Short-term Swiss money rates held steady at low levels on Thursday after Swiss non-farm payrolls slipped 0.2 percent in the fourth quarter, confirming that an economic upturn was not yet giving a boost to employment. The market took the data in stride, one dealer at a big Swiss bank said, but he added that it was the latest bit of evidence that a global economic rebound might not be strong enough to start forcing interest rates higher. "The last few numbers do not look very good," he said. "The upswing may not be as sharp as many people had expected." Short rates in Switzerland should remain steady as long as the Swiss National Bank keeps putting liquidity into the market at the 0.11 percent rate it has used on its near-daily repurchase agreements for almost a year, he added. Overnight and tomorrow/next rates were quoted at 0.10/0.15 percent and three-month rates at 0.18/23 percent. The only activity was in rates with maturities of six months and longer.
EuroSwiss futures pointed to three-month market rates of 0.27 percent by end-March , and 0.34 by mid-year . Three-month Libor was fixed at 0.26000 percent on Wednesday, down from 0.26167 percent on Tuesday and near the SNB's effective target of 0.25 percent. The dollar advanced to 1.2654/64 francs from 1.2578/85 late on Wednesday in Europe, while the euro edged up to 1.5738/40 francs from 1.5735/40.//