Swiss Franc Extends Decline Amid Risk Appetite

05:41, 5th March 2015

(RTTNews) - The Swiss franc extended fall against its major counterparts on Thursday's European deals, as European markets rose ahead of outcome of the European Central Bank meeting and on encouraging corporate results.

Retail company Carrefour reported higher profits in 2014 and said it would raise capital expenditure in 2015 in its efforts to revamp stores in Europe. Schroders shares rose after its 2014 pre-tax profit jumped, helped by inflows in the asset management business.

The ECB chief Mario Draghi would provide more details on its quantitative-easing program, after policy setting meeting in Cyprus. The QE program, aimed to boost the economy and prevent deflationary spiral, is expect to start as early as this month.

Attention may shift to all important U.S. jobs report on Friday, which should help shed more light on the timing of a Federal Reserve interest rate increase.

The franc slipped to 0.9696 against the dollar and 123.58 against the yen, its weakest levels in nearly 2 months. The franc may find support around 0.98 against the greenback and 122.00 against the yen.

The franc edged down to 1.0708 against the euro and 1.4784 against the pound, off previous highs of 1.0651 and 1.4695, respectively. The next key support for the franc may be located around 1.2 against the euro and 1.49 against the pound.

Looking ahead, the Bank of England will announce its interest rate decision at 7:00 am ET. Economists expect the bank to retain interest rates unchanged at 0.50 percent and asset purchase target at GBP 375 billion.

The European Central Bank will announce its interest rate decision at 7:45 am ET. Economists expect the bank to retain interest rates unchanged at 0.05 percent.

Following the announcement, central bank President Mario Draghi will hold the customary post-meeting press conference in Cyprus at 8:30 am ET.

In the New York session, U.S. weekly jobless claims for the week ended February 28, factory orders for January and Canada Ivey's PMI for February are slated for release.

At 10:00 am ET, U.S. Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco President John Williams will deliver a speech about the economic outlook at the Chartered Financial Analysts Society Hawaii 10th Annual Economic Forecast Dinner, in Honolulu.