Swiss franc firmer versus euro after EU budget flop

21 Jun, 2005

The Swiss franc softened a touch against the dollar on Monday but ticked up against the euro after European Union leaders failed to agree on a long-term budget, heaping more pressure on the bloc's single currency.
The failure of Friday's EU budget summit threatened the 25-nation bloc with financial paralysis on top of the political uncertainty wrought by the rejection of the EU constitution by French and Dutch voters.
The euro changed hands at 1.5433/47 francs, down just a touch from 1.5435/40 francs in late European trading on Friday, while the dollar traded at 1.2629/34 francs from 1.2621/28 francs.
The greenback has clawed back ground against major currencies after softening when data late last week showed the US current account shortfall swelled to $195.1 billion in the first three months of the year - a wider deficit than forecast.
In Switzerland, markets have scaled back their expectation of monetary tightening after the Swiss National Bank left its key target on hold at 0.75 percent last week, citing weakness in the eurozone and a lack of inflationary pressure.
Swiss first-quarter industrial orders, will give a further glimpse of the pace of economic activity.

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