Swiss Franc Stays Weak After SNB Holds Rate Steady

The Swiss franc remained lower against its most major counterparts in the European session on Thursday, after Swiss central bank maintained its expansionary monetary policy and the pledge to intervene in the forex market to prevent currency gains.

Policymakers of the Swiss National Bank retained the policy rate and interest on sight deposits at the SNB at -0.75 percent, as widely expected.

Despite the recent weakening, the Swiss franc remains highly valued, the bank observed. The bank said it is willing to intervene in the foreign exchange market as necessary, while taking the overall currency situation into consideration.

The central bank forecasts consumer prices to rise 0.2 percent in 2021 instead of nil growth estimated in December.

The SNB expects the economy to grow in the range of 2.5 percent to 3 percent in 2021, unchanged from the previous projection.

The franc dropped to 0.9376 against the greenback, its lowest level since March 9. The franc may locate support around the 0.96 level.

The franc edged down to 1.2838 against the pound from Wednesday's close of 1.2794. The next possible support for the franc is seen around the 1.31 level.

The franc slipped to 1.1070 against the euro, from Asian session's 2-day high of 1.1047. The franc is poised to challenge support around the 1.12 mark.

Data from market research group GfK showed that German consumer sentiment is set to improve in April after the easing of the hard lockdown and falling infection rates at the time of the survey.

The forward-looking consumer sentiment index rose to -6.2 in April from revised -12.7 in March. The reading was forecast to climb to -11.9.

The Swiss currency, meanwhile, rose to a 2-day high of 116.58 against the yen, compared to 116.18 hit late New York Wednesday. Next key resistance for the franc is seen around the 120.5 level.

Looking ahead, U.S. GDP data for the fourth quarter and weekly jobless claims for the week ended March 20 will be published in the New York session.