LONDON (AFX) - The Swiss franc edged higher in midday trade, benefiting from safe haven type flows amid fresh eruptions of violence in the Middle East, dealers said. However, the threat of Swiss National Bank intervention kept the franc's gains in check, they added. "The Swiss franc has pressed higher following Middle East tensions and all its associated worries," Steve Pearson, currency strategist at Halifax said. But the market is reluctant to test the SNB's resolve especially after repeated comments from the bank that it is not happy with the currency's strength, he said. "Against the euro the 1.46 mark is the tolerance level," he said. An unlikely beneficiary from the safe haven flows is the Norwegian krone, which recorded yet another record high against the euro at 7.6223 this morning. As a major oil exporter, Norway will benefit from higher oil prices but that does not explain the whole picture, Pearson said. "The correlation is not perfect," he added At 6.5 pct Norway has high short-term rates and it maintains a fairly neutral political stance. It will also not suffer from rising oil prices. "It is a safe bet," Pearson said. Against this backdrop, most major currencies were very much rangebound. The euro failed to capitalise from a better-than-expected reading in the euro zone services PMI while sterling hardly reacted to a rise in the UK equivalent. No changes are expected in UK or euro zone interest rates when both rate setting meeting conclude this afternoon. However, the ECB press conference at 1.30 pm will be closely watched for comments on rising inflationary pressures. The yen came off lows, with dollar-yen at the bottom of its recent range. This signals perhaps that the much talked about repatriation flows to mark the Japanese fiscal year end were much lighter than had been expected.