The Swiss franc traded higher against most of its major peers today despite underwhelming domestic macroeconomic data. The likely reason for that was the fact that most of economic reports released in other countries were not particularly good as well.
The State Secretariat for Economic affairs reported that the consumer confidence index was at -4 in January, up from -6 registered in October. The report commented on the result:
Despite less favourable predictions regarding the economy in general, the outlook for the labour market and consumers’ own budget has improved.
The Federal Statistical Office reported that retail sales fell 0.3% in December after declining 0.6% in November. Economists had expected an increase by 0.1%.
The Swiss manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index dropped to 54.3 in January from 57.5 in December. Analysts had predicted a smaller drop to 56.2.
USD/CHF traded at 0.9927 as of 11:15 GMT today after opening at 0.9942 and rising to the daily high of 0.9958. GBP/CHF dropped from 1.3034 to 1.2965. The euro was among the few currencies that outperformed the Swissie as EUR/CHF edged up from 1.1378 to 1.1383, though it retreated from the session maximum of 1.1394.
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