Swiss Franc Drops To Multi-day Lows Against Most Majors
Tuesday, the Swiss franc edged down to multi-day lows against its European, U.K. and Japanese counterparts. Meanwhile, the franc pared its Asian session gains against the dollar.
The Swiss franc slipped to a 6-day low of 90.20 against the yen at 5:10 am ET Tuesday. The next downside target level for the Swiss currency is seen at 88.8. At yesterday’s close, the franc-yen pair was quoted at 90.54.
Today, the Ministry of Finance raised Japan’s economic assessment for the second consecutive quarter. The ministry upgraded its evaluations for seven of the 11 regions. At the same time, it maintained the assessment of four regions from the previous quarter.
Despite difficult situation, the economy showed some signs of picking up, such as an increase in manufacturing activity, the ministry said in a report for three months ended September. But, the ministry retained its pessimistic assessment of employment conditions for all 11 regions.
At 5:35 am ET Tuesday, the Swiss franc plunged to a 4-day low of 1.6722 against the pound. This may be compared to Monday’s close of 1.6631. If the Swiss currency weakens further, it may test support around the 1.680 level.
During early deals on Tuesday, the Swiss franc fell to an 8-day low of 1.5165 against the euro. On the downside, 1.519 is seen as the next target level for the Swiss currency. The euro-franc pair was worth 1.5148 at Monday’s close.
The European Central Bank said today that the Euro-zone M3 money supply growth slowed to 1.8% year-on-year in September from 2.6% in August. Economists had expected the money supply to rise 2.2%.
The Swiss franc declined against the dollar after reaching a high of 1.0152 at 2:55 am ET Tuesday. As of now, the dollar-franc pair is trading near Monday’s close of 1.0187. The near term support for the Swiss currency is seen at 1.035.
Looking ahead, the Confederation of British Industry is set to release October’s Distributive Trade survey results at 7:00 am ET. Last month, the balance between retailers who reported an increase in sales against those who reported a decrease in sales stood at 3%.
From the U.S., the S&P/Case-Shiller home price index is scheduled to be released at 9 am ET. Economists expect an 11.90% year-over-year decline in the 20-city composite house price index for August.
At 10:00 am ET, the Conference Board is scheduled to release its consumer confidence report for October. The report is expected to show that the consumer confidence index rose to 53.5 in October.
