The Swiss franc hit a record high against the U.S. dollar Monday in the wake of the debt ceiling debate, Reuters reported. The dollar also saw a four-month trough versus the yen. The dollar, which has fallen in three of the last four sessions against the franc, last traded at 0.8058. That’s down 1.5 percent on the day, Reuters said. The fall comes despite some American analysts’ hope that the cutting of Greek’s credit rating would present the dollar as a safer option to European currency. Instead, the move seems to have benefitted Swiss currency. Against the yen, the dollar fell 78.055 yen, Reuters said, the weakest since mid-March. The dollar’s slump is the latest in a series of financial stumbles to come to the United States, as threats of defaults and lower credit ratings hang over the country. There is little more than a week left before the Treasury Department’s August 2nd deadline to raise the $14.3 trillion debt ceiling arrives, and Congressional Democrats and Republicans still haven’t developed a clear way forward out of the crisis. Omar Esiner of the Commonwealth Foreign Exchange in Washington told Reuters that the financial outlook will continue to be ominous as long as Congress fails to reach an agreement on the debt limit. "While investors still appear to be giving Washington lawmakers the benefit of the doubt that they will reach a deal, every day that passes without a resolution will likely see markets price in a higher risk premium into the dollar’s valuation," Esiner said.

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