BLBG:Swiss Franc Srengthens as Euro Crisis Summit Concern Boosts Safety Demand
The Swiss franc gained as investors sought refuge amid concern European policy makers may struggle to come up with a comprehensive plan to resolve the debt crisis.
The euro fluctuated between gains and losses versus the dollar and the yen after euro-region leaders scheduled an additional summit for Oct. 26, on top of the one set for Oct. 23, after Germany and France said they need more time to seal an accord. The euro pared its declines as the benchmark Stoxx Europe 600 Index gained 1.1 percent, trimming a weekly slide. The yen and the dollar headed for advances this week against most of their major counterparts.
“The market feels comfortable that there’s still some upside room in the Swiss franc,” said Marc Ostwald, a strategist at Monument Securities Ltd. in London. “It’s not a huge amount of room but for some people it’s better than the euro. I think it will be another choppy day as what is likely to come out of the weekend’s meetings is the focus for markets.”
The franc rose 0.3 percent to 1.2295 per euro at 10:47 a.m. London time after reaching 1.2208, the strongest since Oct. 4. The currency climbed 0.2 percent to 89.24 centimes per dollar.
The euro was little changed at $1.3775, heading for a 0.8 percent loss this week. The 17-nation currency fell 0.2 percent to 105.66 yen. The Japanese currency was little changed at 76.72 per dollar.
Negotiations on combining the European Union’s temporary and planned permanent rescue funds in mid-2012, while scrapping a ceiling on bailout spending, accelerated this week after efforts to leverage the temporary fund ran into European Central Bank opposition and provoked the French-German clash, two people familiar with the discussions said. They declined to be identified because political leaders will have to decide.
To contact the reporters on this story: Emma Charlton in London at echarlton1@bloomberg.net; Candice Zachariahs in Sydney at czachariahs2@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Daniel Tilles at dtilles@bloomberg.net