ZURICH: Worries about debt problems in Portugal and unrest in North Africa pushed the Swiss franc up against the euro on Wednesday, with some analysts seeing further gains in the next few sessions.
Lisbon's parliament will vote on the Portuguese government's latest austerity measures on Wednesday and Prime Minister Jose Socrates has threatened to resign if the opposition fails to approve the measures.
The franc, which investors seek out during times of heightened uncertainty, has gained on concerns about debts in the euro zone, political turmoil in Egypt and Libya and the disaster in Japan. It hit a historic high against the greenback on March 17 and a record against the euro in late December.
"We would allow for a very near term slip (in euro/Swiss) back to 1.2700/1.2645," Commerzbank technical analysts said.
Credit Suisse analysts said they expected risk appetite to help drive franc trading on Wednesday.
The franc rose against the euro compared to the New York close, trading up 0.6 percent at 1.2755 per euro at 0758 GMT.
The franc was up 0.3 percent against the dollar at 0.9004 per dollar.
Switzerland is expected to grow about 2 percent this year, and so far the strong currency has done little to dampen exports.
The chairman of the Swiss National Bank on Tuesday recognised that demand for Swiss exports remained "remarkably resilient" despite uncertainties casting a shadow on the global economy.
"Following the brisk losses in the franc over the last two trading days, solid Swiss fundamentals and lacklustre trading activities resulted in a consolidation of the most important franc crosses," UBS economist Reto Huenerwadel said in a note.
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