UPDATE 1 – Swiss reserve accumulation declines in third quarter – Reuters

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ZURICH, Dec. (Reuters) – The Swiss National Bank’s interventions in the currency market to dampen the Swiss franc appeared to wane in the third quarter, current account data released on Friday showed.

The SNB pledged Thursday to remain active and intervene if necessary to curb the “highly valued” Swiss franc after Switzerland was labeled a currency manipulator by the US Treasury.

In the national financial account, the SNB reported a net acquisition of financial assets of 40 billion Swiss francs ($ 45.2 billion), reflecting intragroup loans as direct investment and foreign currency purchases. by the SNB, recorded as reserve assets.

Reserve assets acquired during the quarter plunged to CHF 12.7 billion from CHF 57.2 billion in the second quarter, but fell from CHF 11.7 billion in the third quarter of 2019.

Switzerland’s overall current account surplus in the third quarter fell by a quarter to CHF 9 billion.

“This decline is mainly due to the drop in the excess receipts in trade in goods and services. In the case of trade in goods, the decline is attributable to trade in gold, ”the SNB said in a statement.

Switzerland posted a current account surplus of 9.88 billion in the second quarter. ($ 1 = 0.8853 Swiss francs) (Reporting by John Revill in Zurich and Thomas Seythal in Berlin; edited by Michael Shields and Alexander Smith)