The Swiss franc was the strongest major currency on Thursday morning, rising against both the euro and the dollar after the Swiss National Bank made no move to weaken the currency further. The franc rose 0.9 per cent against the dollar to SFr0.9451 and 0.9 per cent against the euro to SFr1.2259, its strongest level in two weeks. Traders had been shorting the Swiss franc against the euro in anticipation of further action after the SNB’s quarterly meeting on Thursday morning. The bank surprised markets on September 6 when it announced that it would step in and buy as many euros as it had to to keep the franc at a level of SFr1.20. A spate of poor economic data had led many to speculate that it would raise that level to SFr1.25 or even SFr1.30. However, the euro’s slump in recent days decreased the likelihood the SNB would act, analysts said, as demand for the relative haven of the franc was likely to increase, which could make it harder to defend a higher floor. “The SNB is hoping that the threat that it may take a future decision to weaken the franc will be sufficient to stop the unit appreciating,� said Jane Foley at Rabobank. “The SNB is still very likely to raise the euro/swiss franc ‘floor’ and we continue to favour buying euro/swiss franc on dips.� The single currency continued to fall against the dollar on Thursday, moving 0.2 per cent lower to $1.2959, a level last seen in January. The euro fell 0.1 per cent against the pound to £0.8381. The pound was flat against the dollar at $1.5464, following retail sales showing a 0.4 per cent decline in November but a 0.7 per cent rise year-on-year. Commodity currencies also continued to weaken on Thursday as risk appetite stayed low. The Australian dollar was down 0.2 per cent at $0.9882, while the New Zealand dollar fell 0.4 per cent to $0.7475. The Canadian dollar fell 0.1 per cent to $1.0400 while the Norwegian krone fell 0.3 per cent to NKr5.9981.

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