The Swiss franc was within 0.2 percent of its ceiling of 1.20 per euro after breaching the cap twice in the past week as the region’s debt crisis spurred demand for safer assets. The franc strengthened against higher-yielding currencies such as the South African rand and New Zealand dollar as Spanish and Italian bonds declined. Spain’s prime minister Mariano Rajoy said last week the nation is in “extreme difficulty,� while data released April 6 showed Italian banks’ borrowings from the European Central Bank surged in March to the most on record. The franc was little changed at 1.20195 per euro at 9:15 a.m. London time after rising to 1.19962 yesterday, the strongest since the cap of 1.20 was introduced in September. The currency fell 0.2 percent to 91.9 centimes per dollar. The Swiss National Bank set its foreign-exchange ceiling on Sept. 6 to protect exports after investors seeking a haven from the euro-area turmoil drove the currency to a record 1.00749 per euro. The currency breached the cap on April 5 and yesterday. 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

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