* Dollar, euro up vs Swiss franc; traders cite intervention
* Focus seen quickly switching to Federal Reserve meeting
* U.S. durables goods, housing data paint mixed picture (Adds quotes, details, updates prices)
By Wanfeng Zhou
NEW YORK, June 24 (Reuters) - The U.S. dollar rose against the Swiss franc on Wednesday as traders reported the Swiss National Bank was intervening in the market by selling the Swiss currency for dollars and euros.
The dollar was the biggest beneficiary of the intervention reports; the SNB declined to comment.
Investors were beginning to turn their attention to the policy statement from the Federal Reserve due out at the close of the two-day meeting of its Federal Open Market Committee, at about 2:15 p.m. (1815 GMT).
"It has been a roller-coaster ride in the U.S. dollar this morning," said Kathy Lien, director of currency research at GFT Forex in New York. "Everyone is going to be focused on the FOMC rate decision and how much the central bank talks about exit strategies."
The Fed is widely expected to leave the benchmark federal funds rate at almost zero percent. Investors will focus on what the U.S. central bank says about the economic outlook and its debt-buying program.
The reported FX intervention by the Swiss National Bank drove both the Swiss franc and the euro lower earlier in the session, said Vassili Serebriakov, currency strategist at Wells Fargo in New York.
"We do think that the Swiss National Bank will remain alert to those deflation risks in the near-term and are likely to maintain the current stance of preventing significant strength in the Swiss franc," he said.
The dollar hit a session high of 1.0910 francs from around 1.0660 francs, before the intervention reports emerged on electronic trading platform EBS. In midday trading, the dollar was up 1.6 percent at 1.0841 francs.
Traders cited the SNB buying dollars around 1.0880 francs. Earlier, market players cited the Bank for International Settlements buying euros on behalf of the SNB around 1.5125 francs, after it had been seen in the market at around 1.5010/15 francs. The BIS declined to comment.
The euro rose as high as 1.5288 francs, its highest level in more than two months, from around 1.5010 francs before the intervention talk. It was last at 1.5210, up 1.3 percent.
U.S. data released on Wednesday painted a mixed picture of the economy. New orders for long-lasting manufactured goods jumped unexpectedly by 1.8 percent in May, providing further evidence that the battered U.S. economy was finding its feet.
A separate report, however, showed sales of new U.S. single-family homes slipped slightly in May, underscoring that conditions in the hard-hit housing market remain fragile.
The euro last traded down 0.4 percent at $1.4026, while the dollar was up 0.2 percent at 95.42 yen.
The ICE Futures U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback versus a basket of major currencies, rose 0.2 percent to 79.995.
The euro had earlier come under pressure after the ECB allotted a higher-than-expected 442 billion euros ($613 billion) in funds at a flat rate of 1 percent.
"Today's 12-month ECB auction further blurs the boundary between the ECB's monetary expansion strategy and quantitative easing," said Lena Komileva, head of G7 market economics at Tullett Prebon.
Despite modest gains in the dollar, Wells Fargo's Serebriakov said sentiment on the greenback remains jittery ahead of the FOMC rate outcome.
"The risks are skewed towards the Fed making a stronger commitment to keep rates low for an extended period of time," he said. "That makes the dollar vulnerable and we could see a weaker dollar should that scenario play out." (Additional reporting by Jessica Mortimer in London and Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss and Nick Olivari in New York; editing by Leslie Adler)