Swiss Franc Generally Stronger Against Major Counterparts, Wednesday, June 20, 2007 1:06:27 PM

The Swiss franc was generally stronger versus its major counterparts Wednesday morning in New York. The Swiss currency reached a multi-year high versus the yen while also gaining ground against the dollar and euro. Meanwhile, the franc edged lower against the sterling. Traders considered a report from the UBS Bank raising the Swiss 2007 GDP growth forecast.

The Swiss franc reached a one-week high versus the greenback Wednesday in New York. After trading with uncertainty during the early morning, the Swiss currency advanced around 2 am ET. At 9:20 am, the Swiss currency reached an intraday high of 1.2353. The Swiss currency pulled back a bit from its gains after this, fetching a mark of 1.2374 against its American counterpart at 12:52 pm. This is compared to an intraday low of 1.2405 at 2 am. Greenback traders looked ahead to Thursday`s release of the Philadelphia Fed Index.

Versus the euro, the Swiss franc advanced Wednesday in New York. After choppy trading dominated the early morning, the Swiss currency advanced just before 2 am ET. At 9:20 am ET, the franc hit an intraday high of 1.6589. The franc pulled back from its gains somewhat, fetching a mark of 1.6607 at 12:57 pm. This is compared to an intraday low of 1.6656 at 1:40 am. Traders mulled data showing that German producer prices rose higher-than-expected in May.

The Swiss franc ticked lower versus the sterling Wednesday in New York. Choppy trading dominated the early-to-mid morning until the Swiss currency moved lower at 9:20 am ET. By 1 pm ET, the franc fell to a mark of 2.4675 against its British counterpart. This is compared to an intraday high of 2.4600 at 4:20 am. Traders mulled the minutes from the most recent Bank of England meeting, which showed that its members were split on keeping the key interest rate unchanged.

Against the yen, the Swiss franc reached a multi-year high Wednesday morning in New York. The Swiss currency slid during the early morning, hitting an intraday low of 99.31 at 2:50 am ET. The franc more than rebounded from those losses, reaching the multi-year high mark of 99.96 versus its Japanese counterpart at 8:20 am. The Swiss franc pulled back somewhat from its gains after that, fetching a mark of 99.91 at 1:02 pm.

Swiss economic growth forecast for 2007 was raised to 2.6% from 1.8% earlier, the UBS Bank said Wednesday. The real GDP growth forecast for 2008 was hiked to 2.3% from 2.0%. The report said that the economy surged during the first three months of the year. Real GDP, when extrapolated for the full year, climbed 3.2%. The bank noted that this was the sharpest increase since the third quarter of 2005 and stands above the long-term average.

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