The Swiss franc was little changed against the euro and dollar on speculation the central bank may intervene further if the currency appreciates. The currency also held steady after the Swiss National Bank said yesterday it raised its euro holdings by almost 30 percent, to 20.2 billion in the first quarter. “Euro-Swiss is staying above 1.50 on a possible intervention of the SNB,” said Marcus Hettinger, a currency strategist at Credit Suisse Group AG in Zurich. “Upside for the euro is limited because of strong Swiss fundamentals.” The franc fell at 1.5123 against the euro at 3:25 p.m. in Zurich, compared with 1.5117 yesterday. It was at 1.1652 against the dollar, compared with 1.1675. Switzerland’s currency lost about 2 percent against the euro since the SNB’s March 12 announcement that it would buy foreign currencies to weaken the franc. SNB President Jean- Pierre Roth said last week the central bank will extend the currency purchases as long as needed to prevent an appreciation of the franc and ward off deflation. Swiss stocks fell today after Roche Holding AG dropped the most in 19 years as its Avastin treatment failed in a trial to reduce the risk of cancers returning when given with chemotherapy to patients with early colon cancer following surgery. The benchmark SMI fell 0.3 percent after rising 0.2 percent yesterday.

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