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The British pound is significantly lower against the Swiss franc on Thursday than it was just twenty four hours earlier. Losses for Sterling accelerated on Wednesday afternoon when it was announced the London underground is set to partially shut to stop the spread of the coronavirus. Later today the Swiss National Bank is set to decide interest rates for Switzerland.

GBP/CHF was down by 30 pips (-0.24%) to 1.1212 with a daily range of 1.1117 to 1.1273 as of 9am GMT. The currency pair is edging lower still after a massive swoon that has seen it slide 500 pips in just 24 hours

Pound dumped as London underground closes

There will be partial shutdown of the London underground starting Thursday morning with up to 40 stations to be closed to stop the spread of the coronavirus. The virus is spreading faster in London than other parts of the UK because of its dense population and international links. The latest figures show 900 COVID-19 cases and 34 deaths in London.

The closure of the underground will significantly impair business activity since it is the main method of transport across Britain’s economic hub. British schools will also close as of Friday.

Sterling has been smashed against most major currencies this week with investors unconvinced by the new Chancellor’s economic response package to the pandemic. Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced the news plans on Tuesday and the pound has since fallen to 35 year lows against the US dollar (GBP/USD).

Swiss franc soars before SNB meeting

The Swiss National Bank is expected to introduce more quantitative easing at today’s meeting but a surprise new announcement from the European Central Bank overnight might mean the SNB has had to adjust its plans. The SNB typically tries to match moves from the ECB to prevent the Swiss franc from gaining against the euro.

However, the Swiss franc has risen to its highest against the pound since the SNB unpegged the franc from the euro in 2015. The SNB might just not have the tools left to stop the Swissie from meeting the same milestone against the euro.