Euro gains vs Swiss franc top 1 percent

LONDON: The euro gained more than 1 percent to return to close to parity against the Swiss franc on Monday, the best performance of a broad recovery for the single currency after hitting long-term lows following Greek election results overnight.

Traders cited the Swiss National Bank as intervening against the franc last week and data on Monday showed sight deposits at the SNB rose sharply, normally an indicator the bank has been selling francs in the market.

The SNB removed its 1.20 francs per euro cap on the Swiss currency on Jan. 15, prompting the biggest moves on major currency markets in the era of floating exchange rates.

The euro gained 1 percent to 0.9967 francs by GMT 0956, having hit a high of 0.9984 francs a few minutes earlier.