ZURICH: The Swiss franc was weaker against the dollar on Thursday, softening alongside the euro as upbeat US data cooled expectations of monetary easing by the Federal Reserve.
"In slightly accentuated trading activities a softer euro pushed dollar/Swiss back towards the 98.00 threshold," UBS economist Reto Huenerwadel said.
US industrial output rose in July, while home-builder sentiment in August hit its highest level in more than five years.
That came in the wake of a surprisingly strong reading on US retail sales, dampening expectations for the Federal Reserve to launch another round of bond-buying, or quantitative easing, as early as September.
The franc has been trading in tandem with the euro against the dollar since the Swiss National Bank set a cap of 1.20 per euro last Sept. 6 to ward off a recession, after safe-haven investors anxious about the euro zone crisis pushed the "Swissie" up sharply.
Investors are also awaiting details on a possible new European Central Bank scheme to help reduce the borrowing costs of Spain and Italy.
The main data release for Switzerland on Thursday is the ZEW investor sentiment index for August. Last month it showed investors grew more anxious about the prospects for the economy. This month's reading will be watched for further signs the economy is losing steam, as the central bank has predicted.
The franc fell 0.1 percent against the dollar compared to the New York close to trade at 0.9780 by 0523 GMT.
The franc was flat against the euro at 1.2008.
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