Swiss Franc Slides After SNB Schlegel's Remark

(RTTNews) - The Swiss franc weakened against other major currencies in the Asian session on Wednesday, after Swiss National Bank (SNB) President Schlegel reiterated bank's readiness to intervene while preserving price stability.

SNB President Schlegel's most recent remarks just restate the well-known message that the SNB is getting more prepared to intervene in the foreign exchange market.

"We therefore continue to expect the SNB to leave its key interest rate unchanged in the coming months, meaning no significant franc movement is likely to result from this policy," Schlegel said.

Traders expect SNB policy rates to remain steady and Swiss Franc movement to be minimal in the upcoming months.

As long as Swiss inflation is within the central bank's goal range of 0-2%, the Swiss National Bank is anticipated to maintain policy. Due on Thursday, Switzerland's annual CPI is expected to increase from 0.6 percent in April to 0.8 percent in May.

In the Asian trading today, the Swiss franc fell to nearly a 1-month low of 1.0614 against the pound, from yesterday's closing value of 1.0606. The franc may test support around the 1.07 region.

Against the euro and the U.S. dollar, the franc slipped to 6-day lows of 0.9167 and 0.7889 from Tuesday's closing quotes of 0.9163 and 0.7884, respectively. If the franc extends its downtrend, it is likely to find support around 0.92 against the euro and 0.79 against the greenback.

The franc edged down to 202.72 against the yen, from Tuesday's closing value of 202.91. The franc may test support around the 200.00 region.

Looking ahead, U.S. MBA mortgage approvals data, U.S. ADP employment data for May, Canada labor productivity for the first quarter, U.S. and Canada S&P Global PMI reports for May, U.S. factory orders for April and U.S. weekly EIA crude oil data are slated for release.