Swiss consumer prices witness decline in August, in line with market consensus

Consumer prices in Switzerland witnessed decline during the month of August, largely in line with what markets had earlier anticipated.

Swiss consumer prices slid 0.1 percent year-on-year in August, slightly slower than the 0.2 percent decrease seen in July. The annual pace of decline matched economists' expectations, data released by the Federal Statistical Office showed Tuesday.

A similar pace of slower decrease was last seen in November 2014. Prices have been falling since late 2014. Consumer prices dropped 0.1 percent as expected in August from the prior month, when it declined 0.4 percent.

Further, this is up from a 0.5 percent drop in July and the first non-negative reading since the Swiss National Bank scrapped its currency cap in January 2015. However, the national reading is still negative, just, but only at -0.1 percent on the month and year, the least negative reading since November 2014.

Meanwhile, USD/CHF is marginally lower in today’s trading, having established a consolidation phase over the past week. The pair is currently at about the midpoint of the range at 0.9788, down 0.09 percent from Monday’s levels.