Swiss central bank reports $17.7BN half-year gain

GENEVA (AP) — Switzerland's central bank is reporting a profit of 16.1 billion Swiss francs ($17.7 billion) for the first half of the year, a big turnaround from its loss of 9 billion francs for 2013.

The Swiss National Bank says the profit in its half-year results is largely based on gains in the gold, foreign exchange and capital markets.

The central bank said Thursday that net profit on foreign currency positions stood at 12.6 billion francs while its gold holdings gained 3.5 billion francs in value.

In January, the bank reported that its 2013 results included a loss of 15 billion francs in the value of its gold holdings, but that was partly offset by gains in foreign currency and from selling its stabilization fund that bailed out Swiss bank UBS AG.