Swiss franc rallies to three-month highs against dollar, pound and yen

The Swiss franc has rallied to fresh three-month highs versus the dollar, the yen and the pound on positive data from Switzerland amid broad dollar weakness.

The level of Swiss consumer confidence as measured by the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs, or SECO, was unchanged for the second quarter while analysts had been expecting a weaker number, as per Thursday's (7 May) data.

The SECO index stood at -6 compared to the consensus estimate of -9.

The USD/CHF pair fell to 0.9073, its lowest since 29 January, from the previous close of 0.9162. The pair is down 2.4% so far in May, adding to the 4.1% loss last month.

The GBP/CHF plunged to 1.3817, its lowest since 30 January, from the previous close of 1.3968. The pair is down 3.5% so far this month.

Against the yen, the franc rallied to 131.44, its highest since 27 January, from the previous close of 130.41.

The Swiss franc also strengthened against the euro but broad euro gains capped the Swiss unit's advances. The EUR/CHF slipped to a two-week low of 1.0304 from the previous close of 1.0396.

The Q2 SECO survey is the second since the Swiss National Bank's decision to scrap the cap for the franc against the euro on 15 January.

Swiss authorities generally expect the SNB's decision on the EUR/CHF float to impact economic growth in the coming years. The official forecast for Swiss gross domestic product growth is 0.9% this year while that for average unemployment rate is 3.3%.

For 2016, the Swiss government expects the economy to expand 1.8% but unemployment to rise to 3.4%. New projections will be out on 16 June.