ZURICH (Reuters) - Sight deposits at the Swiss National Bank rose by 2.77 billion Swiss francs ($2.84 billion) in the week to Aug. 9, suggesting the SNB had stepped up intervention on foreign exchange markets to rein in the safe-haven currency.
Sight deposits held by commercial banks at the central bank - a proxy for currency interventions - had risen by 1.6 billion francs in the week ending Aug. 2 and by 1.7 billion francs the week before.
"I assume the SNB intervened. This is the biggest rise in sight deposits since mid-April 2017," said Credit Suisse (SIX:CSGN) analyst Maxime Botteron.
At that time a Presidential election in France saw French far-right candidate Marine Le Pen stand against now President Emmanuel Macron, fuelling concerns about European politics and driving the franc up against the euro (EURCHF=).
The SNB declined to comment on the rise in sight deposits.
The franc has recently hit more than two-year highs against the euro as escalations in the Chinese-American trade war spook financial markets.
($1 = 0.9738 Swiss francs)