Swiss franc surge sends shock waves through global markets

Swiss National Bank gives up supporting the euro at 1.20; massive ECB monetary easing expected

Published Thu, Jan 15, 2015 · 09:50 PM

London

A MASSIVE, historic, surprise surge in the Swiss franc against the euro on Thursday caused extreme volatility in European and global markets within minutes. The move is regarded as an indicator that the European Central Bank (ECB) will carry out much larger quantitative easing (QE), or monetary easing, than expected next week.

The jump in Swiss franc came after the Swiss National Bank (SNB) decided that it was no longer worthwhile to support the euro at 1.20 per euro, and the immediate response was a euro plunge of around 30 per cent to 0.85 before it rallied to 1.03, which was 14 per cent below its early morning rate.

The US dollar plunged 20 per cent, but its loss was also pared to 13.6 per cent in wildly fluctuating trading. Shares plummeted in Swit…