As 2023, comes to an end, the CHF is ending the day as the strongest of the major currencies while the JPY is the weakest. The CHF benefitted from flight to safety flows on the US banking crisis and global tensions, and then took a late year nose dive from around USDCHF 0.9100 to 0.8332 after the SNB continued to sell foreign currencies in an effort to dampen imported inflation. The USDCHF fell -8.94% on the year (stronger CHF). The EURCHF fell -6.10% (higher CHF). The CHFJPY saw the CHF strengthen by 18.2% - the biggest moving currency for the trading year.
The JPY was the weakest. One need only look to central bank policy as the Bank of Japan kept rates steady in 2023 while the other central banks engaged in aggressive tightening monetary policy until later in the year.
The USD is ending the year mostly lower thanks to the late-year move lower on the back of expectations for the Fed to stop tightening and then lower rates in 2024. The USD was only higher vs. the JPY (7.58%). It also rose a small 0.43% vs the NZD. Against the AUD, the AUDUSD closed the year virtually unchanged. The greenback fell the most vs the CHF (-8.94%), GBP (-5.34%), and EUR (-3.16%).
