Swiss franc steady ahead of finance ministers' meet

ZURICH: The Swiss franc shadowed the euro lower against the dollar on Friday in thin and tentative trading ahead of a meeting of European Union finance ministers in Poland which US Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner will also attend.

Hopes for progress towards a solution of the Greek debt crisis were weaker after Finland's finance minister said an agreement over collateral requirements on the second Greek aid package is unlikely to materialise at the meeting.

The parlous state of Greece's finances remains a major concern to the health of the euro zone, and traders say without a concrete plan of action to unblock the situation, the single currency is likely to come under renewed pressure.

"If we again only hear some verbal reassurances about Greek problems and no concrete action, that'd surely be the end of the rally in the euro," said Sumino Kamei, senior currency analyst at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ.

The franc and euro had moved sharply higher against the dollar the previous session after coordinated central bank action to add liquidity to the European banking system gave the single currency a bounce and sent most European bank shares higher .

The franc has been trading in a tight range against the single currency since the Swiss National Bank committed to using unlimited currenty interventions to maintain a minimum 1.20 francs per euro exchange rate, which it reiterated at its policy statement on Thursday, when it also lowered inflation forecasts.

The franc dipped against the euro compared to the New York close at 1.2062 francs per euro at 0727 GMT .

The franc fell 0.6 percent against the dollar, trading at 0.8743 francs per dollar.

Copyright Reuters, 2011