ZURICH, Jan 27 - Swiss money rates traded a touch stronger on Tuesday in a range dealers said was likely to set the tone until the Swiss National Bank raised interest rates as the economy rebounces. Overnight and tomorrow/next money traded between 0.10-0.15 percent, dealers said, a touch higher than on Monday. Switzerland's KOF leading indicator for December, signalling economic trends six to nine months ahead, is due on Wednesday and is expected to confirm the economy is heading out of a double-dip recession. "That will be the next highlight in Switzerland," said one trader. "But whether this will have an effect on Swiss rates is questionable. It would have to be a very strong number to move the market."
Dealers expected SNB chief Jean-Pierre Roth -- due to give an address on Thursday entitled "Have we returned to the path of growth?" -- to reiterate the central bank is in no rush to tighten monetary policy given a mild inflation outlook. "They've now got time before they need to change rates," the dealer said. Dealers now say the SNB may not raise rates before autumn after analysts had previously seen a rate rise in the spring. EuroSwiss Swiss franc interest rate futures <0#FES:> point to three-month Swiss franc LIBOR of around 0.28 percent by end-March, close to current market levels. By mid-year, futures price in a rise in LIBOR to 0.43 percent. The Swiss franc LIBOR -- the SNB's policy benchmark -- was fixed at 0.23167 percent on Monday, up from 0.23000 percent on Friday. The SNB held its repo rate at 0.11 percent, the same rate it has used since April 2, 2003, offering overnight and two-week liquidity.//