Swiss franc drops to new 19-month low as CPI rate falls back in negative territory

The Swiss franc dropped to a new 19-month low on Monday as consumer price inflation rate fell back to negative rate while the US dollar remained firm with stronger than expected jobs data on Friday.

Switzerland's annual consumer prices fell to -0.1% in November after it recorded no in the previous month.

The Swiss inflation rate has been holding between -0.1% and 0.1% for about a year after recovering from the multi-year low of -1.1% printed in July 2012.

According to official statistics, health and transport indices fell 0.8%, leisure and culture by 0.7%, and other goods and services by 0.6% in November. Upward pressures came from food and beverages, clothing and footwear and housing and energy sectors.

USD/CHF rose to 0.9817 on Monday, its highest since 22 May last year.

The franc fell against the euro too, despite the common currency falling to a new low against the dollar after mixed German industrial output data.

EUR/CHF edged higher to 1.2032 on Monday from the previous close of 1.2021. The cross, however, is not far away from the 14-month low of 1.2006 touched on 20 November.

Germany's industrial production rose 0.8% year-on-year in October rebounding from a -0.1% drop in the previous month but month-on-month, the growth rate came in less than expected at 0.2%. Analysts were expecting 0.3% growth.

EUR/USD fell to 1.2252, its lowest since August 2012 and from Friday's close of 1.2271.