2012.05.07 14:52:52 2nd UPDATE: Swiss Central Bank Reserves Drop In April

--Swiss foreign-currency reserves slip to CHF235.6 billion in April, from CHF237.5 billion in March --Data may indicate central bank scaled back market interventions (Adds background in 3rd paragraph, updates exchange rate in last.) By Neil MacLucas Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES ZURICH (Dow Jones)--The Swiss National Bank's foreign currency reserves shrank in April, indicating the central bank may have scaled back market interventions to hold back the strong Swiss franc as Europe grapples with economic slowdown and fiscal crisis. The SNB's holdings of foreign currencies dropped to CHF235.6 billion ($255.2 billion) in April, from an unrevised CHF237.5 billion in March, according to central bank data released Monday. The March figure was CHF20 billion down from CHF257.5 billion at the end of 2011. The franc strengthened beyond CHF1.20 briefly in April for the first time since the SNB set that exchange rate in September as the minimum value for the common currency, sparking speculation the central bank bought euros. The SNB doesn't comment on its daily operations, so its reserves data are watched for clues about possible intervention. The central bank's reserves surged in 2010 and 2011, reaching a high of CHF305 billion at the end of September last year, as the SNB amassed large quantities of euros to stall the franc's appreciation. "The reserves data are very non-transparent, so its difficult drawing any significant conclusions from them," said Thomas Flury, global head of currency research at UBS AG, Switzerland's largest bank. Besides buying and selling currencies, the SNB may use other means to damp demand for the franc. "The SNB could have been active in the forward markets, using currency swaps or three-month contracts, and making forwards unattractive and resulting in negative carry costs which don't show up in the reserves data," said David Kohl, chief currency analyst at Julius Baer. The euro has traded at around CHF1.2010 through most of April and May, and was at that level as of 1153 GMT today, even as it depreciated to below $1.30 on concern the governments of France and Greece elected on Sunday may be less committed to the euro-zones's austerity policies than their predecessors. -By Neil MacLucas, Dow Jones Newswires, +41 43 443 8046; neil.maclucas@dowjones.com (END) Dow Jones Newswires May 07, 2012 08:52 ET (12:52 GMT)