The Swiss franc rose against the dollar and held largely flat against the euro on Thursday as markets digested growth in the Swiss KOF barometer and ahead of the release of the Swiss National Bank's monetary policy report.
The rise in the KOF for the fifth month running in June, reported on Wednesday, signalled the Swiss economy is picking up speed and giving the SNB room to hike interest rates further. "At this stage we get the impression that the Swiss economy manages to hold onto above trend growth rates fairly easily," UBS analyst Reto Huenerwadel said in a note.
Markets will also have an eye on the SNB report, for further clues on future interest rate policy, though it is of limited relevance as key portions were prepared before the central bank's interest rate hike in mid-June.
The franc was almost unchanged against the euro at 1.6535 per euro, well off the 9-year low at 1.6673 hit shortly after the SNB's decision on June 14 to increase rates by 25 basis points.