There was no doubt whatsoever about last week's winners and losers.
On Thursday the Swiss National Bank put the cat among the pigeons when it cut its deposit rate to -0.75 per cent and announced an end to its support of the euro at SFr 1.20.
Not only was the move unexpected, it gave the lie to the SNB vice chairman's reassurance just three days earlier that 'the floor rate must remain the pillar of Swiss monetary policy' and that the bank was 'fully committed' to holding down the value of the franc.
After more than three years chained to the euro, the franc made good its escape, sending the euro an instant 15 per cent lower. After due consideration, investors decided the currency ought to be worth about one euro and the euro/franc exchange rate has settled just above parity.
The downward pressure on the euro also allowed sterling to move above €1.30 to its highest level in seven years.
The spotlight will remain on the euro this week as investors await with keen interest the European Central Bank's monetary policy announcement on Thursday and the Greek general election on Sunday. The anti-austerity left-wing Syriza party is leading the opinion polls in Athens but the bookmakers put the odds of an overall majority at longer than 2/1.
There is significantly greater confidence that the ECB will launch a quantitative easing programme of money-printing and bond-buying on Thursday, though there is rather less certainty about its scale and the form it will take.
Data from the futures market indicates that investors have sold the euro in anticipation of the QE announcement and a majority are sitting short positions. That could mean a bounce for the euro if the ECB comes out with something less impressive than the market is expecting.
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