The Swiss franc held steady against the euro and the dollar on Monday as investors held back from taking conviction positions ahead of US and European factory data despite strong Chinese manufacturing numbers on Sunday. The franc was steady against the dollar compared to Friday's New York close, trading at 0.9018 francs to the dollar after breaching the 0.90 francs to the dollar level in early trading for the first time since the end of February.
US non-farm payrolls on Friday will give further indications with respect to the strength of the US recovery, while the Swiss Purchasing Managers' Index due on Monday should shed more light on the health of the Swiss economy. "Euro-dollar short-term fundamentals are marginally negative and revolve around waiting for the latest news on European growth and peripheral budgetary performances, which are never particularly good," said Credit Suisse analysts in a note.
Even so, the franc remains rangebound against the euro and has traded between 1.203 and 1.21 francs to the dollar since mid-February, with volumes slack. The franc was little changed against the euro compared to Friday's close, trading at 1.2041 francs per euro.