Switzerland's central bank posted a loss of nearly 34 billion Swiss francs ($34.36 billion) during the first nine months of 2015 as a hefty profit during the third quarter was insufficient to fully offset a massive loss during the first half that was driven by losses on the bank's currency reserves.

During the third quarter, the Swiss National Bank booked a profit of 16.2 billion francs, it said Friday. The bank had lost 50.1 billion francs over the first half of the year, so even after last quarter's profit the SNB's red ink for 2015 so far totaled 33.9 billion francs.