The Swiss franc rose versus all its major peers as the central bank refrained from announcing any new steps to curb its gains, after intervening or referring to the currency’s strength on the first three Wednesdays of August. The euro weakened versus 14 of its 16 major counterparts after a report showed euro-area unemployment held at 10 percent for a second month in July. The yen headed for a third monthly gain versus the dollar before a report forecast to show the U.S. employers added fewer jobs this month. New Zealand’s dollar was poised for its biggest monthly decline in a year versus the yen as the country’s business confidence worsened. “The SNB tends to announce measures to weaken the franc on Wednesday mornings, but as it happens nothing came of it today,” said Elizabeth Gregory, a market strategist at Swissquote Bank SA in Geneva. “Market participants had priced in some sort of intervention or verbal rhetoric against franc strength, but the failure of anything to materialize has pushed the franc stronger.” The franc gained 0.9 percent to 1.1736 per euro at 10:30 a.m. in London, snapping three days of declines. Switzerland’s currency advanced 0.9 percent to 81.26 centimes per dollar. The yen strengthened 0.2 percent to 110.56 per euro, and gained 0.2 percent to 76.61 versus dollar. The euro was little changed at $1.4442 from $1.4441 yesterday, giving it a 0.3 percent advance this month. Switzerland’s authorities announced measures to halt gains in the franc or released statements calling it “overvalued” on three Wednesdays this month. ‘Further Policy’ The Swiss government said on Aug. 3 it welcomed measures to curb franc gains, while the central bank boosted supplies of the currency on Aug. 10 to erode its value. Finance Minister Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf also said Aug. 17 that he supported “any” measure deemed appropriate by the central bank to curb franc strength including a possible currency peg. There is “always a chance the SNB might offer further policy but they are probably content with Euro-Swiss at its current levels in the short term,” Chris Walker, a currency strategist at UBS AG in London, wrote in an e-mail. Time will show whether the Swiss National Bank’s foreign currency purchases over the past two years to curb gains in the franc, have been successful, governing board member Thomas Jordan wrote in a paper published on the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston’s website. The central bank in June 2010 suspended its 15-month-long foreign exchange interventions aimed at stemming the franc’s gains, after the purchases led to a $21 billion record loss in 2010 as the value of the euros and dollars, amassed through its interventions, slumped. The Swiss Central Bank declined to comment on any possible intervention in the currency markets when contacted by Bloomberg News today. To contact the reporters on this story: Garth Theunissen in London gtheunissen@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Daniel Tilles at dtilles@bloomberg.net

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