Franc hits record against US dollar
The United States dollar fell to a record low against the franc on Tuesday, when light holiday trading helped push the currency down.
The Swissquote online broker showed that around noon an investor needed just 0.9434 francs to purchase one US dollar, a few points less than the 0.9460 level reached in October.
The dollar bounced back to 0.9515 francs by the end of the day in Switzerland as markets in New York moved through morning trading.
Fewer people trade in foreign currencies during the holiday period, making sharp drops or gains more common, analysts say. But investors also perceive the franc as a “safe haven” currency as Europe’s euro zone struggles with debt and financing packages for Greece and Ireland.
Those measures have helped the dollar rise against the euro by about eight per cent since early November. The European common currency fell to $1.3113 from an overnight high of $1.3276.
The Swiss Market Index (SMI) of the country’s blue-chip stocks climbed slightly to close at 6,569 points, up 0.01 per cent.
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