BLBG:Swiss Franc Weakens as SNB’s Hildebrand Calls Currency’s Strength ‘Absurd’
The franc weakened after Swiss National Bank President Philipp Hildebrand called the currency’s strength “absurd” and said the bank won’t exclude “further measures” to curb its advance.
The franc slid against all 16 of its major peers tracked by Bloomberg. “We clearly communicated that we are willing to take further measures if those are necessary,” Hildebrand was quoted as saying in an interview in Neue Zuercher Zeitung.
``The bounce in euro-swiss is linked to people being afraid of intervention,'' said Sebastien Galy, a foreign-exchange strategist at Societe Generale SA in London. ``At the moment it is just speculation, but we would expect a package of measures from the SNB even if not classical intervention.''
The franc depreciated 1.1 percent to 1.08787 per euro as of 8:27 a.m. in London, paring its gain for the week to 3.8 percent. It reached a record 1.07112 earlier today. The franc dropped 0.7 percent against the dollar to 76.89 centimes.
SNB spokesman Walter Meier declined to comment on today's move in the franc.
To contact the reporter on this story: Emily Blewett in London at eblewett@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Daniel Tilles at dtilles@bloomberg.net