RTTN:Swiss Franc Trades At 1-week High Against Yen And Pound
(RTTNews) - The Swiss franc maintained its bullish outlook on Monday as buying interest continued to hold on after the Swiss National Bank on Thursday decided to keep the minimum exchange rate of the Swiss franc as well as its key interest rate unchanged.
Although the SNB believe the Swiss franc is still high and should continue to weaken over time, the bank expressed its willingness to take more actions if situation so demands. The decision to hold the ceiling was in contrary to traders' anticipation that the central bank will raise the floor rate of EUR/CHF to at least 1.25.
Positive sentiment gathered pace as the eurozone finance ministers are set to hold a conference call later today to discuss on additional financial aid to mitigate the impact of the debt crisis.
The European finance ministers today will attempt once again to shore up credibility in Europe's single currency after the EU Summit last week failed to provide meaningful progress towards resolving the debt crisis.
The ministers will also finalize a €150 billion contribution to the International Monetary Fund and take a call on the new fiscal compact for the euro area, proposed at the EU summit on December 9.
Risk-appetite stalled in the Asian session after Fitch Ratings said Friday that it would consider downgrading its ratings on government bonds issued by six European nations, including Italy and Spain, heightening concerns about Europe's sovereign debt crisis.
Meanwhile, ECB President Mario Draghi damped expectations that the bank will step up bond purchases and warned of the costs of a eurozone break-up, saying struggling euro-zone countries that leave the euro bloc would still face great economic difficulties afterwards.
The franc that touched a 1-1/2 month high of 1.2184 against the euro in the Asian session attempted to reverse its course at the beginning of the European session. However, the domestic unit was unable to fall below last week's close of 1.2207 and is presently hovering around the 1.2190 level.
The Eurozone current account logged a seasonally adjusted deficit of EUR 7.5 billion in October, compared to a surplus of EUR 2.2 billion in September, the European Central Bank said today.
The goods account showed a deficit of EUR 4.4 billion after registering a surplus of EUR 2.6 billion a month ago. At the same time, the surplus in services fell to EUR 5 billion from EUR 5.6 billion in September.
The Swiss franc jumped to a 1-week high of 1.4486 against the pound around 5:45 am ET, compared to 1.4539 hit late New York Friday. If the alpine unit strengthens further, it may find resistance around the 1.4450 level at which the 20-day rising SMA lies in the pair.
(RTTNews) - The average asking price for a house in the United Kingdom rose 1.5 percent from a year earlier in December, the latest survey by Rightmove revealed. On a monthly basis, house prices declined 2.7 percent after contracting 3.1 percent in November.
Separately, household finances in the United Kingdom decreased at a faster rate in December and hit the lowest level in four months, due to a sharp increase in debts and a significant fall in income, data from a survey by Markit Economics showed. The household finances index declined to 34.3 in December from 34.6 in November, with a reading below indicating contraction.
Extending Asian session's upward channel, the Swiss franc touched a 1-week high of 83.33 against the Japanese yen in early European deals on Monday. The next upside barrier for the pair could be at its 20-day simple moving average of 83.85. As of 6:50 am ET, the pair was trading around the 83.20 level.
The Swiss franc tested Friday's multi-day peak versus the US dollar, reaching as high as 0.9356 before leveling off around 5:00 am ET. The dollar-franc pair is presently trading at 0.9360, almost near last week's closing quote and is approaching the rising 10-day simple moving average level of 0.9350.
Looking ahead, the U.S. NAHB housing market index for December and the Canadian wholesale sales for October are slated for release in the New York morning session.
