Around 5:20 p.m., the Swiss currency was trading at 0.95226 francs for one euro, a level never seen against the single European currency.
The franc strengthened further on Wednesday against the euro, sinking to a new historic low. Investors were feverish ahead of monetary policy announcements from the Federal Reserve in the evening and Thursday from the Bank of England as well as the Swiss National Bank.
Around 5:20 p.m., the Swiss currency was trading at 0.95226 francs for one euro, a level never seen against the single European currency.
The euro-franc currency pair “has continuously fallen since June” supported by statements from the SNB, analysts at ING bank pointed out. The issuing institution has in fact indicated that it wishes to keep the real exchange rate stable and that it is prepared to intervene “on both sides of the foreign exchange market”, by selling or buying francs. Which would mean that the SNB wants to lower the currency pair, they added.
The US central bank (Fed) is expected to counterattack with a sharp rate hike on Wednesday after a two-day meeting. A press release will be published at 2:00 p.m. (8:00 p.m. in Switzerland), then the president of the institution, Jerome Powell, will hold a press conference at 2:30 p.m. (8:30 p.m. in Switzerland). A rise of three-quarters of a percentage point (75 basis points) is widely expected. This would be the third increase of this magnitude, after the June and July meetings.
In Switzerland, the SNB will announce its decision on monetary policy on Thursday at 09:30 (local time). The majority of analysts are expecting a 0.75 point increase in the key rate, which would therefore go from -0.25% to +0.50%.