ZURICH: The Swiss National Bank posted a second quarter loss of 13.20 billion Swiss francs ($15.14 billion), it said on Monday, as interest rate hikes by other central banks dented the value of its massive bond holdings.

The SNB lost 8.08 billion francs on its foreign currency positions of 742 billion francs, as bond prices fell as investors feared more interest rate hikes by the US Federal Reserve, European Central Bank and others.

The Swiss central bank also lost 3.14 billion francs on its gold holdings in the three months to the end of June, as the lower gold price cut the value of the 1,040 tonnes of the precious metal it holds.