ZURICH: The Swiss franc was flat against the euro on Thursday ahead of a French bond auction seen as a key gauge of the ability of euro zone nations to refinance their onerous public debt load.
The franc was slightly lower against the dollar, closing on ten-month highs hit in early December as a spike in early year risk appetite waned, dragging stocks lower and buoying the dollar, seen as a safe haven.
"For this week, the key Swiss economic data will be the monthly Swiss inflation print, scheduled for Friday, which is expected to fall further into negative territory," said Credit Suisse analysts in a note.
"The softer inflation print is expected to weigh down on the Swiss franc and is in line with ongoing easing policies by the SNB to mitigate deflationary risks."
The franc fell 0.1 percent against the dollar compared to the New York close, trading at 0.9421 francs per dollar by 0755 GMT.
The franc was flat against the euro to trade at 1.2187 francs per euro.
Later in the day, Swiss National Bank chief Philipp Hildebrand will hold a media conference aimed at calming the furore over a currency trade made by his wife three weeks before the SNB imposed a cap on the franc of 1.20 francs to the euro.
While Credit Suisse analysts said Hildebrand's statement was likely to have little effect on the franc, others said more drastic action by the SNB chairman could trigger a market reaction, even though the franc was likely to remain strong.
"That doesn't mean to say that a resignation would be disregarded by the market," said Neil Mellor, currency strategist, Bank of New York Mellon.
"It's entirely plausible that the market may sell the Swiss franc on the back of it, but I suspect people would use any sell-off to buy back in, because there's bigger fish to fry, not least the fact that the Swiss franc is set to remain a safe haven through 2012.”
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