(RTTNews) - The Swiss currency extended its previous session's downtrend against the currencies of the US, UK and Japan in early trading on Wednesday. Against the European currency, the alpine unit reversed its course after edging lower earlier in the session.
The Swiss franc slumped to near a 5-week low of 1.699 against the pound around 7:00 am ET and descending below the 1.703 support may bring the domestic unit down to its lowest level in more than 2 months. The pound-franc pair is presently quoted at 1.6983, compared to 1.6903 hit late New York Tuesday.
The Bank of England's policy makers unanimously decided to continue with the asset purchase programme totaling GBP 200 billion using central bank reserves, the minutes of the meeting showed. The meeting was held on January 6 and 7. All nine policymakers stood united in holding the Bank Rate at 0.5%.
At the same time, the number of people claiming Jobseeker's Allowance in the UK fell by 15,200 month-on-month to reach 1.61 million in December, the Office for National Statistics said. That was the second consecutive monthly fall in the claimant count and the largest monthly fall since April 2007. Economists had forecast 4600 fall.
The Swiss franc that declined to 1.4766 against the euro around 5:50 am ET recouped some of its losses shortly. The euro-franc pair is presently trading near yesterday's closing value of 1.4756.
The euro came under pressure after Jurgen Stark, a member of the European Central Bank's Executive Board, said today that the ECB will not change its rules to help member states with high budget deficits such as Greece.
The German PPI for December released at 2:00 am ET did not influence the European currency much.
The Bank of Italy said in a report that the current account deficit stood at EUR 4.57 billion in November, narrowing from a EUR 4.92 billion deficit recorded a year ago.
The Swiss franc that closed yesterday's deals at 88.28 against the Japanese yen slumped 1.3 percent to near a monthly low of 87.14 around 7:05 am ET. Thereafter, the franc-yen pair remained on hold and is presently worth 87.26 with 86.9 seen as the next likely support level.
Earlier in the day, a report released by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry in Japan revealed that an index measuring tertiary industrial activity in the country declined by a seasonally adjusted 0.2% in November, compared to the previous month, coming in at 96.6.
Separately, a final report released by Japan Machine Tool Builders' Association revealed that machine tool orders surged up 63.4% year-on-year during December, marginally higher than a 62.8% rise projected in an earlier preliminary report.
