By Paul Dobson and Matthew Brown June 4 (Bloomberg) -- The Swiss franc strengthened through 1.40 per euro for the first time on speculation the country’s economy is expanding, while the euro-region debt crisis hampers growth in neighboring nations. Switzerland’s currency strengthened to as much 1.3867 per euro, appreciating for the sixth straight day, before trading at 1.3946 as of 2 p.m. in Zurich. It passed 1.41 per euro yesterday for the first time in more than two weeks amid speculation the Swiss National Bank may be stepping back from a policy of selling the currency to thwart its appreciation. “It’s getting more and more difficult to intervene when the economy is showing signs of growth,” said Marcus Hettinger, a foreign-exchange strategist at Credit Suisse Group AG in Zurich. “It was only a question of time before we went below 1.40. There’s also general weakness of the euro and upside pressure will persist.” Werner Abegg, a spokesman for the SNB, declined to comment. The franc was little changed against the dollar at $1.1560. The euro weakened 0.8 percent against the U.S. currency to $1.2068, after falling to $1.2038, the lowest level since April 3, 2006. To contact the reporter on this story: Paul Dobson in London at pdobson2@bloomberg.net; Matthew Brown in London at mbrown42@bloomberg.net.

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