Swiss Central Bank Forex Reserves Drop in June

        By Neil MacLucas
        ZURICH--The value of Switzerland's foreign-currency reserves declined in June, data showed Tuesday, largely because of the weakness of the euro, said analysts.
        Foreign currency reserves fell to 516.2 billion Swiss francs ($545.9 billion) in June, from CHF517.7 billion in May, according to data from the Swiss National Bank, which declined to comment on the change in value of its reserve holdings.
        The CHF1.5 billion drop in foreign currency reserves last month comes after the SNB confirmed it intervened in currency markets on June 29 to hold down the value of the franc as concern over Greece's potential exit from the eurozone spurred renewed buying of the Swiss currency.
        Thomas Jordan, chairman of the SNB's governing board, said it had been active in trying to stabilize the franc, but declined to give details on the scale of the intervention, or whether it was the first move by the bank in the currency market since Jan. 15, when it scrapped a cap on the franc's value.
        Analysts said the latest reserves data probably reflects the decline in the value of the euro, which makes up almost half of the SNB's currency holdings. The euro weakened by almost 1% against the Swiss currency last month, while the dollar gained roughly 1% against the franc.
        "The small drop in the value of the SNB reserves reflects changes in the valuation of its holdings, particularly the euro," said Constantin Bolz, currency analyst at UBS AG. "The data doesn't suggest the SNB intervened in a big way last month," he said.
        The SNB's reserves have risen since mid-2012 as it amassed huge amounts of euros to curb the franc's advance against the common currency, used by Switzerland's main export market.
        At 0712 GMT, the euro-franc was trading at 1.0405, and the dollar-franc at 0.9437.
        Write to Neil MacLucas at neil.maclucas@wsj.com
        (END) Dow Jones Newswires

        July 07, 2015 03:20 ET (07:20 GMT)

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