ZURICH: The Swiss franc fell against the dollar and the euro on Thursday after comments from US Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke reassured investors the Fed is on course to unwind its easy monetary policy sometime this year. In testimony to Congress on Wednesday, Bernanke stuck to a timeline that he first outlined in June to scale back the Fed's bond-buying programme later this year, but he left open the option of altering that plan if the economic outlook changes. Although Bernanke left open the option of changing the Fed's plan if the economy deteriorated, the US central bank is still expected to be the first central bank to move away from ultra-loose monetary policy. "Overall, Bernanke's comments remain consistent with tapering beginning later this year, most likely in September," said Mitul Kotecha, an analyst at Credit Agricole. "He will repeat the testimony to the Senate Banking Committee today but markets will look for further clues in the Q&A session," Kotecha said. The franc fell 0.3 percent against the dollar to trade at 0.9441 by 0655 GMT compared to the New York close. The franc slipped 0.2 percent against the euro to trade at 1.2373. In Switzerland, data published on Thursday, showed Swiss exports fell in June, weighed down by one less working day compared to the prior-year period, while exports of watches, chemicals and machinery dropped.

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