Swiss ZEW Survey (Expectations) (SEP)
Actual: -26.7
Expected: -10.0
Previous: -5.1
The drop in Swiss investor confidence this month was far sharper than economists had expected. The official consensus was targeting a drop to -10.0. Any reading below 0.0 indicates there are a greater number of pessimists than optimists among the survey field. What the market found instead was a -26.7 figure that fell just short of touching the record low of -28 that was set back in March. Looking at the conditions of global markets recently, the sharp rise in pessimism does is not that unusual. The viscous global credit markets had its effect on Swiss assets as it did in nearly every other major industrialized economy. Stocks plunged, government bonds rallied and credit spreads widened. However, as an aside for this indicator, the sharp drop may not necessary be the harbinger of doom. This series is still relatively new (going back only to July of 2006 for historical data); and in its time it has experienced considerable volatility.
In the minutes following the indicator’s release, the Swiss franc came under modest selling pressure. USDCHF rose a little more than 10 points in the wake of the print, though this hardly retraced the losses recorded earlier in the morning.