Investing.com - The Swiss franc slipped against the euro on Thursday after the Swiss National Bank held its negative interest rates steady and reiterated its pledge to intervene in currency market if necessary.
EUR/CHF touched highs of 1.0993 up from around 1.0968 earlier.
The SNB held its deposit rate steady at -0.75% and said it would continue to intervene in the currency markets to weaken the franc, which it says remains “significantly overvalued.”
It also held its target range for the three-month Libor rate unchanged at between -1.25% and -0.25%, in line with economists’ expectations.
The central bank added that it will "remain active in the foreign exchange market in order to influence exchange rate developments where necessary."
“The global economic outlook has deteriorated slightly in recent months and the situation on international financial markets remains volatile,” the SNB said.
“Against this background, the negative interest rate and the SNB’s willingness to intervene in the foreign exchange market serve to ease pressure on the Swiss franc.”
The SNB cut its forecast for economic growth this year to between 1% and 1.5%, from approximately 1.5% previously.
The franc was trading at one-month highs against the broadly weaker dollar, with USD/CHF down 0.45% at 0.9722.
The dollar weakened across the board after the Federal Reserve lowered its outlook for interest rate increases by the end of this year to two from four.
The Fed said the U.S. economy faces risks from an uncertain global economy, even though moderate growth and "strong job gains" would still allow it to hike rates again this year.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was down 0.6% at five-month lows of 95.13.