UBS Says SNB ‘Verbal Intervention’ to Keep Franc Buyers Away

By Daniel Tilles

Jan. 19 (Bloomberg) -- Swiss National Bank comments on the strength of the franc will probably discourage bets the currency will keep rising, according to UBS AG, the world’s second-largest foreign-exchange trader.

“Verbal intervention could, for now, cause Swiss franc buyers to shy away,” Ashley Davies, a currency strategist at UBS in Singapore, wrote in a research note received today. “We look for euro-franc to trade within a 1.47-1.54 range throughout 2009.” The franc was at 1.4906 per euro as of 6:49 a.m. in London today.

To contact the reporter on this story: Daniel Tilles in London at dtilles@bloomberg.net