Switzerland’s central bank intervened in the currency
markets Sunday night to stabilize the strong franc after the concerns
over Greece’ potential exit from the eurozone spurred strong demand in the Swiss currency.
Chairman of the Swiss National Bank’s governing board Thomas Jordan
said the bank had been active in trying to stabilize the local currency.
“It is currently a very difficult situation and we are observing developments very closely,” Mr. Jordan said, referring to Greece’s financial troubles and the pressure it is placing on Switzerland’s currency, as he was present at an event in the Swiss capital Bern.
Jordan declined to give details about the degree of the SNB’s intervention, or whether it was the first move by the bank in the forex markets since Jan. 15, when it scrapped a cap on the franc’s value.
Last week he cautioned that the franc is “considerably overvalued” and reiterated that the bank would continue to weaken it by intervening in currency markets.
"The Swiss authorities want the euro/Swiss back up at 1.30, let alone where we are now, and let alone at 1.20," said Neil Mellor, a currency strategist at Bank of New York Mellon in London.
EUR/CHF was last at 1.036800, after falling as low as 1.0314 overnight.
The single currency also recovered from lows against the dollar, yen and sterling.
EUR/USD was last at 1.1136, up from earlier lows of 1.0955.
EUR/JPY was at 136.56 after hitting lows of 133.78 in the Asian session, while EUR/GBP was at 0.707500 from 0.6968 earlier.
"There is uncertainty over whether the Grexit risks implied by the gap lower in euro/dollar at the start of the Asian session will actually be realized, with the Greek referendum still just under a week away," said Stephen Gallo, European head of FX strategy at BMO Capital Markets in London.
