Swiss Franc Falls Amid Risk Appetite

The Swiss franc weakened against other major currencies in the European session on Wednesday amid risk appetite, as a rebound in tech stocks on Wall Street overnight outweighed hawkish comments from Federal Reserve officials.

Investors also shrugged off the results of a closely watched survey that showed German consumer confidence is set to deteriorate in July as the economy struggles to gain momentum.

After rising for four straight months, the consumer climate index dropped unexpectedly to -21.8 in July from -21.0 in June, the survey published jointly by GfK and the Nuremberg Institute for Market Decisions showed. The score was forecast to climb to -19.4.

Amid much uncertainty about the interest-rate outlook, investors braced for the release of key U.S. inflation reading, due later this week for further direction.

The Swiss franc traded steady against its major rivals in the Asian session today.

In the European trading now, the Swiss franc fell to near 2-week lows of 0.9601 against the euro and 1.1378 against the pound, from early highs of 0.9574 and 1.1349, respectively. If the franc extends its downtrend, it is likely to find support around 0.98 against the euro and 1.16 against the pound.

Against the U.S. dollar and the yen, the franc slipped to a 2-week low of 0.8981 and a 2-day low of 178.12 from early highs of 0.8946 and 178.64, respectively. On the downside, 0.91 against the greenback and 175.00 against the yen are seen as the next support levels for the franc.

Looking ahead, U.S. weekly mortgage approvals data, new home sales data for May and U.S. EIA weekly crude oil data, Canada manufacturing and wholesale sales data and Swiss National Bank's quarterly bulletin are slated for release in the New York session.