Swiss National Bank reports first half profit of 21.3 billion francs

ZURICH, July 29 (Reuters) - Switzerland's central bank reported on Friday a net profit of 21.3 billion Swiss francs ($21.76 billion) during the first six months of 2016, boosted by strong profits from its foreign currency investments and the rising gold price.

The Swiss National Bank booked a valuation gain of 7.6 billion francs from its gold holdings and a gain from its foreign currency positions of 13 billion francs.

The institution has been buying currencies as well as foreign bonds and equities in massive amounts to check upward pressure on the highly-valued franc.

($1 = 0.9787 Swiss francs) (Reporting by John Revill; editing by Brenna Hughes Neghaiwi)