Swiss National Bank continues to weaken SFr

The Swiss franc was weaker again Friday as the Swiss National Bank continued to intervene to weaken the currency after its value rose so much that it has made Swiss products less competitive in the rest of Europe and in the US.

The intervention has taken the Swiss currency to its biggest weekly decline versus the euro since 1999 and comes after the nation’s manufacturing activity contracted, leading to the highest unemployment there in more than two years.

In late morning trade in New York, the Swiss currency traded at SFr1.5317 to the euro while it was at SFr1.188 to the US dollar.

The Australian and New Zealand dollars, meanwhile, saw gains in relation to the US dollar as investors were more interested in making risky currency trades as equities markets saw gains, and on indications from both China and Japan that more money for stimulus spending could be on the way.

The Aussie was worth 65.69 cents US while it took 52.34 cents US to buy a New Zealand dollar.

The yen weakened again on concerns that Japan’s recession could be deepening, leaving the Japanese currency to trade at ¥126.3151 to the euro and at ¥97.97 to the US dollar.

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