BLBG:Switzerland’s Franc Advances Before Europe Crisis Meetings; Euro Weakens
The Swiss franc gained as investors sought a refuge amid concern policy makers will fail to break a deadlock between Germany and France that prompted leaders to schedule two summits on Europe’s debt crisis within four days.
The euro weakened versus the dollar as concern the impasse will prevent an agreement at the meetings. The franc climbed to a two-week high against the 17-nation euro. The yen and the dollar headed for weekly advance against most major counterparts as European stocks headed for a loss this week, boosting demand for the safest assets.
“The market feels comfortable that there’s still some upside room in the Swiss franc,” said Marc Ostwald, a strategist at Monument Securities Ltd. in London. “It’s not a huge amount of room but for some people it’s better than the euro. I think it will be another choppy day as what is likely to come out of the weekend’s meetings is the focus for markets.”
The franc rose 0.8 percent to 1.2221 per euro at 8:09 a.m. in London after reaching 1.2208, the strongest since Oct. 4. The currency climbed 0.5 percent to 88.98 centimes per dollar.
The euro dropped 0.3 percent to $1.3741 and fell 0.4 percent to 105.41 yen. The yen was little changed at 76.70 versus the dollar.
Negotiations on combining the European Union’s temporary and planned permanent rescue funds as of mid-2012, while scrapping a ceiling on bailout spending, accelerated this week after efforts to leverage the temporary fund ran into European Central Bank opposition and provoked the French-German clash, two people familiar with the discussions said. They declined to be identified because political leaders will have to decide.
Economists say a report today will show German business confidence fell in October to the lowest in more than a year. The Ifo institute will say its business climate index, based on a survey of 7,000 executives, slid to 106.2 from 107.5 in September, according to a Bloomberg News survey.
To contact the reporters on this story: Emma Charlton in London at echarlton1@bloomberg.net; Candice Zachariahs in Sydney at czachariahs2@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Daniel Tilles at dtilles@bloomberg.net