The Swiss franc firmed slightly on the dollar in early Monday trade, reversing some of Friday's losses as the market looked ahead to this week's U.S. and euro zone data and central bank policy meetings, dealers said. By 0805 GMT, the euro held at 1.4740/45 francs from 1.4742/52 late on Friday, but it was still above the 1.4692/97 seen in late European trading on Thursday.
The dollar slipped to 1.6455/60 francs from 1.6472/78 late on Friday and 1.6523/27 late on Thursday.
Dealers said the outlook for the franc was weakish, but the market was holding off on building up major exposure one way or another before news on the shape of the U.S. economy.
Investors will eye U.S. NAPM manufacturing data, due at 1500 GMT [US-ECI], for pointers of recovery in the ailing economy and the prospects for the dollar.
The U.S. currency's course was also seen tied to the reaction of the U.S. financial markets to the Chapter 11 filing by shattered U.S. energy trader Enron Corp and efforts by Argentina to stabilise the economy.
The euro zone PMI for November is due at 0900 GMT and is forecast to come in at 42.7 after 42.9 in October, possibly foreshadowing a bottoming-out of the economy .
Dealers expected further pressure on the franc from news of an Italian tax amnesty, sparking a move into the euro and out of the Swiss currency as money is being repatriated to Italy.
Expectations of a Swiss rate cut this week were cemented by evidence of economic weakness in the form of the KOF think tank's leading indicator falling to around a five-year low in October, signalling the slowdown would last well into next year.
The Swiss central bank [SNB] is expected to cut rates for the fourth time this year when it announces its latest policy stance on December 7.
Mildly positive news for the franc came from a weekend referendum where Swiss voters approved a government initiative to cap the national debt, but rejected a plan to introduce a new energy tax and a capital gains tax .