Swiss National Bank posts H1 loss of 15.3 bln francs as dollar weakness weighs

ZURICH, July 31 (Reuters) - The Swiss National Bank SNBN.S on Thursday reported a loss of 15.3 billion Swiss francs ($18.83 billion) for the first half of the year as the weakening dollar took a big bite out of the value of the central bank's U.S investments.

The SNB made a loss of 22.7 billion francs on its foreign currency positions during in the six months to the end of June, wiping out its 6.7 billion franc profit in the first three months of the year.

The loss compared with a 56.8 billion franc profit a year earlier and showed how the results of the SNB, with 727 billion francs in foreign currency stocks and bonds, are vulnerable to currency movements.

($1 = 0.8125 Swiss francs)