The Swiss franc recovered from troughs against the dollar on Wednesday as dealers shied away from taking big bets ahead of an interest rate decision by the US Federal Reserve later on the day. The dollar was last trading at 1.1889/93 francs, down from peaks around 1.1950 francs in European afternoon trading on Tuesday.

The euro last changed hands at 1.5542/51 francs, virtually unchanged from Tuesday.

A widespread view that the Fed will raise interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point supported the dollar on Tuesday.

But the greenback traded flat against major currencies at the end of the day, as traders unwound positions.

The European Central Bank also meets this week, on Thursday, and is broadly expected to stay put. In Switzerland, foreign exchange markets will be eyeing the release of trade data and consumer price inflation scheduled for Thursday.

Copyright Reuters, 2005