USD/CHF climbed higher after FED, SNB left interest rates intact

US dollar kept its higher levels against the Swiss franc on Thursday, as the Swiss National Bank left interest rates on hold.

USD/CHF pair hit a session high at 0.9359 at 9:48 GMT, which was also the highest value since June 10th, after which consolidation followed at 0.9337. The cross was up by 0.60% for the day. Support was expected at current session low, 0.9250, while resistance was to be encountered at June 10th high, 0.9417.

The Swiss National Bank also expressed its determination to maintain the minimum exchange rate floor at 1.20 per euro, saying such measure is “important in order to avoid an undesirable tightening of monetary conditions.” The SNB left its benchmark interest rate unchanged at zero, meeting expectations. The central bank added that it still anticipated economic growth to be in a range of 1% to 1.5% during 2013, but warned that risks to the economy remained high, as “tensions can reappear at any moment on global financial markets.”

Meanwhile, US dollar advanced on a broad scale against its major peers after Ben Bernanke’s statement on Wednesday. He announced, that the central bank may start scaling back its unprecedented bond-purchasing program this year and end it entirely in mid-2014, if the economy finally achieved the sustainable growth FED has sought since the end of the recession in 2009. The Federal Open Market Committee left the monthly size of asset purchases unchanged at 85 billion USD.

Later today official reports, regarding Initial Jobless Claims, Manufacturing PMI, Existing Home Sales and Philadelphia FED Index in the United States, were expected to be released.

Ultimately, the Swiss franc was almost without change against the euro, as EUR/CHF cross ticked down 0.01% to 1.2337. The common currency was put under pressure after official report showed earlier, that PMI indicators in France, Germany and the Euro region as a whole remained in the contraction zone in June, below 50.0.