The franc soared against the euro and Swiss stocks plunged more than 13 percent by midday after the removal of the Swiss franc-euro floor was announced by the central bank.
After appreciating more than 30 percent, by mid-afternoon the franc was nearing parity with the euro (valued at 1.02 francs) and rose as much as 14 percent against the US dollar.
"The minimum exchange rate was introduced (in September 2011) during a period of exceptional overvaluation of the Swiss franc and an extremely high level of uncertainty on the financial markets," the SNB said in a statement.
"This exceptional and temporary measure protected the Swiss economy from serious harm," it said.
"While the Swiss franc is still high, the overvaluation has decreased as a whole since the introduction of the minimum exchange rate," the central bank said.
"The economy was able to take advantage of this phase to adjust to the new situation."
Swiss franc rockets almost 30% as currency ceiling scrapped http://t.co/KVKTM323MM An absolute monster move… pic.twitter.com/leyY8z8BZ7
— Robin Wigglesworth (@RobinWigg) January 15, 2015
Why the Swiss franc jumped: Expert http://t.co/Hbmto4Vap2 http://t.co/1fqdoBJsmT
— ZmerchNews (@Zmerch_) January 15, 2015
Panic over Swiss franc may subside once central bank plans become clearer: http://t.co/QyjB0RF8o4 pic.twitter.com/UfjWbD6Uz9
— Financial Times (@FT) January 15, 2015
Swiss franc rockets after Swiss central bank stuns markets by scrapping currency cap http://t.co/tPb4R8gWP0 pic.twitter.com/xeU9lus1Ui
— Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) January 15, 2015
Incorrect currency quotes were given in an earlier version of this article.
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