FX.co ★ Hey Franc! The Swiss currency regains its crown

The Swiss franc continues its strong ascent against all major currencies. It strengthened against the dollar by 0.8% on Wednesday, and reached parity against the euro for the first time since March.

In mid-June, the Swiss National Bank unexpectedly "changed its shoes" for many market participants. The rising cost of living in the country forced it to leave the dovish camp and join the hawks.

To curb inflation, the SNB decided to raise interest rates for the first time since the fall of 2007. And it immediately took the bull by the horns, raising the indicator by 50 bp.

The aggressiveness of the Swiss central bank provoked a rally in the franc. In the outgoing month, it became the only currency from the group of ten, which strengthened against the dollar.Interest in the Swiss franc is growing amid a decrease in risk appetite. Investors fear that rate hikes by the world's largest central banks could significantly slow global economic growth.

In America, which has taken even more drastic measures to combat inflation than Switzerland, the risk of recession is also very high. That is why the franc now looks like a more attractive safe-haven asset than the dollar.

Yesterday, the franc strengthened against the greenback by 0.8%. Its rate jumped to its highest value since April - 0.9495 per dollar.

Meanwhile, the franc showed even greater dynamics against the euro. It jumped 1% to 0.99699, its highest level since 2015.

Thus, the Swiss currency again reached parity with the euro this year. The last time it happened was in March.

The driving force for the franc against the euro was the divergence in policy between the SNB and the European Central Bank. Recall that the ECB is only preparing to raise interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point in July.

As for the Swiss central bank, it is possible that it will continue to increase the indicator at the same brisk pace in order to prevent inflation from getting out of control.

Goldman Sachs analysts believe that next year SNB interest rates will rise to 1.5% from the current value of -0.25%. This should provide significant support to the franc.

There is also an opinion that in the medium term, the growth of the Swiss currency will be facilitated by the intervention of the SNB.

Experts are betting that the central bank will not miss the opportunity to use its currency intervention tool to stabilize the exchange rate.

Recently, SNB officials said they were ready to sell their foreign exchange reserves to prevent the depreciation of the Swiss franc.

The central bank fears that a strong fall in the currency could lead to a further increase in inflation in the country, which recently exceeded its price stability target.