BLBG:Swiss Franc Plunges on SNB’s Warning; Dollar Index Declines
The Swiss franc fell against all of its major peers after the nation’s central bank said it will take further measures to weaken the currency if necessary.
The Swiss National Bank said today that the economic outlook has “deteriorated substantially” following the franc’s surge to a record against the euro and the dollar, and that the currency is “massively overvalued.”
The franc weakened 2.6 percent against the euro to 1.11027 at 8:41 a.m. in London. The Swiss currency tumbled as much as 2.2 percent to 77.88 centimes against the dollar.
The “shot over the bow will inevitably grab headlines and spook traders who were burnt in 2009-2010 foreign-exchange interventions,” Peter Rosenstreich, Geneva-based chief currency analyst at Swissquote Bank SA, said in an e-mailed note. “The psychological tactic to mention that the franc was ‘massively overvalued’ is a clever way to get fundamental traders behind the selling.”
The Dollar Index, which tracks the greenback against currencies from six major U.S. trading partners, slipped 0.2 percent to 74.336 after Moody’s Investors Service said the U.S. credit rating may be cut for the first time.
The U.S., rated Aaa since 1917, was placed on a negative outlook, Moody’s said yesterday as it confirmed the rating after President Barack Obama signed into law a plan to lift the nation’s borrowing limit and cut spending.
To contact the reporter on this story: Anchalee Worrachate in London at aworrachate@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Daniel Tilles at dtilles@bloomberg.net