LONDON (AFX) - The Swiss franc has come under pressure in midday trade after the Swiss National Bank lowered its key three-month Libor rate by 0.5 percentage points to 0.75-1.75 pct, dealers said. "With this step, the National Bank is reacting to the rapid appreciation of the Swiss franc against the major currencies, which has led to an undesirable tightening of monetary conditions in Switzerland," the bank said in a statement. The SNB is becoming increasingly anxious about the appreciation of the currency, noting in its statement that economic growth in Switzerland is weaker than would have been expected. "This is an extremely aggressive move by the SNB given the recent inflation numbers," said Ian Stannard, currency strategist at BNP Paribas. Rob Hayward, currency strategist at ABN Amro, said the move wasn't entirely surprising but labelled it a "decisive" move to stop the cross going below 1.46. The dollar issue remains out of SNB's hands but this additional cut should help euro/Swiss climb back up to the 1.47 mark, said Hayward. Steve Barrow, currency strategist at Bear Stearns, said as a result of the move euro/Swiss is "the long-term buy". Meanwhile the dollar has managed to claw back some of its recent losses but market participants think it will remain under pressure ahead of tomorrow's crucial US labour market report. Though euro/dollar has come off its overnight five-month high of 0.9081 usd, dealers expect further dollar weakness to prompt a break above 0.91 usd. However, the market is already pretty long euro and the upside is likely to be capped at 0.9110 usd, according to ABN Amro currency strategist Rob Hayward, who added that the market reaction to yesterday's Senate testimony of US Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill's was a bit "extreme". Meanwhile, dollar/yen hovered above its recent lows as Japan enters the Golden Week holiday but BNP Paribas' Stannard wouldn't be surprised if dollar/yen tests its March 7 lows of 126.35. "O'Neill didn't inspire confidence in the backing of dollar policy and more specifically regarding the yen and intervention, his comments will be interpreted as directed to the Japanese," said Stannard. "That could put dollar/yen under pressure." Stannard was refering to O'Neill's lukewarm comments about the value of intervention in the currency markets.