Franc Posts New Record vs. Dollar on Private Consumption

The Swiss franc jumped today, reaching new all-time record against the US dollar, as the Swiss consumer demand improved last month. The optimism for Greece allowed the euro to outperform the Swiss currency, though.

The UBS consumption indicator advanced by 0.34 points to 1.91 in May, the highest level since August 2010. The main contributor to the increase was the new car registrations. The retail sales were also responsible for the rise of the consumer demand. The report said that “consumption is supported by low interest rates, consistently high immigration and falling unemployment”.

Daragh Maher, the deputy head of global foreign exchange strategy at Credit Agricole CIB, commented on the reaction of the franc to the report:

It seems that the Swiss economy continued to do well. When you are getting good Swiss numbers and nervousness about Greece, it adds to the case for buying the franc.

USD/CHF dropped today from 0.8347 to 0.8322 as of 21:40 GMT today and reached earlier the record low of 0.8274. EUR/CHF went up from 1.1927 to 1.1954. CHF/JPY advanced from 96.80 to 97.38.

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