Good or bad news, depending on which you are spending, buying: Swiss franc, dollar rates

Zurich, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The US dollar has slipped below parity with the Swiss franc for only the second time. The dollar fell below the franc 14 March 2008.

The Swiss franc, which has climbed in the past two days, was at 1.0030 against the dollar ($0.9993/CHF1 ) at 17:00 in Zurich Wednesday 25 November, but it dipped slightly to below parity at 18:00. Bloomberg attributes the change largely to the strength of the franc: “The franc has gained 1.6 percent against the dollar and 0.3 percent versus the euro in the past month as some investors bet that signs the economy is recovering may prompt the central bank to stop selling the currency.”

The US Federal Reserve Wednesday released minutes from its 4 November meeting, indicating that it was not overly concerned by the dollar’s fall.

Links to other sites: Bloomberg, FE.com, TheStreet.com, US Federal Reserve