Chris Redfern Moneycorp

The Swiss took by far the biggest hit in the last week.

Investors might have been comfortable with SFr1 = €1 but the Swiss National Bank (SNB) was apparently not. When the SNB was rumoured to be intervening they scarpered, allowing the franc to regain another six of the 20 cents it lost when the SNB set it free a fortnight earlier.

The surprise winner was the euro. Having begun the week facing two problems, it ended it facing only one. The sword of quantitative easing still hung over its head, but the threat of financial vandalism by the new Greek government was fading, as Syriza leaders tried to persuade the world that they would act responsibly in renegotiating the terms of their bailout.

Ahead of the franc, but still behind the rest of the field, the three 'commodity' dollars had a tough time. With the previous week's Canadian rate cut still fresh in their minds, investors were sensitive to any idea that Australian or NZ rates could head in the same direction.

The Aussie almost dodged a bullet when the Reserve Bank of Australia's preferred inflation measure came in higher than expected but the Reserve Bank of New Zealand spoiled things by saying its benchmark interest rate would not be going up after all.

Sterling and the US dollar had a relatively easy ride. Both had to contend with below-forecast growth in the fourth quarter of the year; Britain's economy expanded by 0.5 per cent rather than the expected 0.6 per cent, while America had to manage with 0.7 per cent instead of 0.8 per cent.

But the Federal Reserve showed no sign of wishing to postpone its first rate increase until next year and the Bank of England governor gave a speech in which he set out the reasons why Britain's economy is in better shape than the eurozone's.