USD/CHF struggles below 0.9150 amid USD weakness, risk-off sentiment
- USD/CHF makes a dull start on fresh trading week during the initial Asian trading hours.
- US Dollar Index stays pressurized below 91.20 following not so encouraging NFP data.
- The Swiss Franc gains on its safe-haven appeal, SNB holds confidence in its expansionary monetary policy.
USD/CHF treads water in the Asian trading hours on Monday. After testing the high above 0.9160 in the previous session, the pair traded in a very close trade band in today’s session with no meaningful traction.
At the time of writing, USD/CHF is trading at 0.9140, up 0.05% for the day.
The depreciative move in the US dollar keeps the pair on the lower edge. The US Dollar Index (DXY), which measures the performance of the greenback against the basket of six major currencies, trades negatively below 91.20.
The US Nonfarm payrolls (NFP) data showed in the previous week that the US economy created 235K jobs as compared to market expectations of 750K additional jobs. The lower readings infused doubts about the delay in Fed’s plan of reduced bond purchase and strength of the economic recovery.
The drop in the US unemployment rate from 5.4% in the previous month to 5.2% in August capped the downside for the USD.
It is worth noting that S&P 500 Futures were trading at 4,535, down 0.034% for the day.
On the other hand, the Swiss Franc picked the momentum on broad-based USD weakness, despite the downbeat economic data.
The Retail sales in Switzerland fell 2.6% on yearly basis in July, the first annual decline in the last five months, whereas the economy expanded 1.8% on a quarterly basis in June, below the market expectations of 2%.
Meanwhile, Swiss National Bank (SNB) Governing Board Member, Andrea Maechler said the COVID-19 uncertainties are expected to remain longer despite the low inflation in Switzerland.
In the absence of major fundamental economic data, the dynamics of the market would influence the pair’s performance for the time being.
USD/CHF additional levels