The Swiss franc on Friday rose against the yen that was down against a basket of currencies after Japan eased concerns its bold monetary stimulus could come under criticism at the Group of 20 meeting. The franc rose 0.9 percent against the yen, trading at 106.18 yen per franc by 0659 GMT compared to the New York close. It was unchanged against the euro at 1.2165 per euro but gained 0.2 percent against the dollar to trade at 0.9304 per dollar.
Japanese Finance Minister Taro Aso said the G20 had accepted Tokyo's stance that the Bank of Japan's aggressive monetary expansion is aimed at beating deflation and not at competitively weakening the yen. "We expect the yen to continue its downward trend versus the dollar and other currencies," analysts at St. Galler KB said in a note, adding that a weak yen is not a problem for the US economy given Japan is only a small trading partner. "The dollar also gained versus the franc and the euro and is trading within our forecasted range. We see no reason why the dollar should move much against these currencies in the near future," St. Galler KB analysts said.
They said the euro seemed to have recovered from the previous week's weakness and could rise to 1.2250 francs per euro if the resistance at 1.2205 was broken. The next set of macro data due in Switzerland are March trade figures on Tuesday. Exports might take a hit from a 0.5 percent rise in the franc against the euro in the month under review.