ZURICH: The Swiss franc was little changed against the euro on Thursday, as uncertainty about Europe's progress to address its debt crisis kept the Swiss currency within striking distance of a 1.20 cap against the euro set by the Swiss National Bank.
Investors were seen seeking safe harbour in francs after it appeared there would be no quick judgment from a German court on the euro zone's bailout fund.
"This is an environment in which people like to buy francs, so it will be interesting to see sight deposits Monday, the only indication we have on how the SNB is intervening on the franc," Bank Sarasin economist Alessandro Bee said.
The amount of cash commercial banks hold with the Swiss National Bank has surged due to anxiety about the euro crisis. The level is partly a reflection of how strongly banks want to keep their money safe and may also reflect efforts by the SNB to defend its currency cap.
The franc has largely tracked the single currency since the SNB set the 1.20 cap after investors anxious about the euro zone crisis pushed the safe-haven unit up 20 percent in just a few months.
"To the downside, the SNB bid prevents the currency pair from moving decidedly higher; to the upside it is the Euro angst that weighs heavily on EURCHF," UBS economist Reto Huenerwadel said.
The franc was down 0.1 percent against the dollar to trade at 0.9823 by 0715 GMT, with the greenback broadly helped by news additional asset-buying by the US Federal Reserve was not imminent.
The franc was unchanged against the euro at 1.2006.
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