ZURICH: An uptick in risk appetite sent the Swiss franc down somewhat against the euro on Tuesday, with European shares poised to open higher on the first trading day of 2012.
Yet with the euro zone debt crisis still festering, many in the market believe the franc is not likely to lose much ground against the common currency in the weeks ahead.
After the franc appreciated by double digits against the euro in just a few months and threatened to tip the Alpine economy into recession, the Swiss National Bank set a cap on the franc of 1.20 per euro.
The SNB sees growth of 0.5 percent for 2012.
"It seems clear that the first quarter should not be easy for the euro. It's obvious that investors will be cautious versus the euro, given Italy's enormous financing needs in the first quarter," Commerzbank analysts said.
The franc fell 0.3 percent against the euro to trade at 1.2192 per euro by 0728 GMT compared to the New York close.
The franc rose 0.2 percent against the dollar to trade at 0.9377 per dollar.
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