On Thursday the Swiss franc dropped against the dollar and the euro after Swiss National Bank Head Thomas Jordan said the local currency was overvalued and that the bank would continue to intervene in currency markets to weaken it.
USD/CHF surged 0.63% to 9397 following the remarks, while EUR/CHF was at 1.049900 from 1.0475 beforehand.
At a speech in Lausanne, the SNB head warned that the Swiss franc is “considerably overvalued” and added that the bank will continue to soften it by intervening in currency markets and maintaining negative benchmark interest rates and negative rates on franc deposits.
"The global economy has been in a nearly permanent state of crisis for almost eight years," Jordan said. "The pressure on the franc is the mirror image of this."
The Swissy is considered to be a safe asset investment because of Switzerland's current account surplus, as it does not rely on foreign investment to fund its budget.
Last week the SNB maintained its rate on sight deposits at minus 0.75% and left the target range for the three-month Libor unchanged at between minus 1.25% and minus 0.25%.
Negative rates mean lenders are paying the central bank to hold their money.
EUR/USD dipped 0.12% to trade at 1.1190.
Investors watch developments in Greek negotiations held in Brussels.
As the Guardian says, the latest rumour is that both Greece and creditors are going to submit their own proposals to the eurogroup, as no agreement has been reached.
Data to eye later in the day:
The weekly jobless claims report is due at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time, along with personal-income, consumer-spending and core-inflation data for May.
At 9:45 a.m. Eastern, Fed Gov. Jerome Powell will talks about retail payment-system security. Powell on Tuesday said he believed economic conditions may allow for two rate hikes before the end of the year. His remarks drove the dollar to its best one-day gain in a month against the euro.
Ahead of Powell, Federal Reserve Gov. Daniel Tarullo, a voting member of the Fed’s rating-setting committee, will talk about the economy and financial regulation at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York at 8 a.m. Eastern Time.
