USD/CHF holds steady near 0.9600 mark, bulls seemed reluctant amid modest USD weakness
- USD/CHF reversed an intraday buying on Monday and climbed back above the 0.9600 mark.
- A positive risk tone undermined the safe-haven CHF and extended some support to the pair.
- Modest USD weakness failed to impress bullish traders and kept a lid on any further upside.
The USD/CHF pair attracted some dip-buying near the 0.9560 region on Monday and refreshed the daily high during the mid-European session, albeit lacked any follow-through strength. The pair was last seen hovering around the 0.9600 mark, well below a one-week high touched on Friday.
Signs of stability in the financial markets undermined demand for safe-haven assets, including the Swiss franc, which turned out to be a key factor that extended some support to the USD/CHF pair. That said, the emergence of some selling around the US dollar failed to impress bullish traders or provide any meaningful impetus to the major.
Investors remain concerned that rapidly rising interest rates and tightening financial conditions would pose challenges to global economic growth. Adding to this, the ongoing Russia-Ukrain war and the latest COVID-19 outbreak in China have been fueling worries about a possible economic recession, which dragged the US bond yields to a multi-week low.
On the other hand, the CHF continued drawing support from the Swiss National Bank's shocker on June 16, when it unexpectedly raised interest rates by 50 bps to curb soaring inflation. This warrants caution before positioning for any meaningful upside for the USD/CHF pair amid relatively lighter trading volumes on the back of a holiday in the US.
Investors also seemed reluctant and might prefer to wait for a fresh catalyst from this week's release of the FOMC monetary policy meeting minutes on Wednesday. Apart from this, the closely-watched US monthly jobs report (NFP) on Friday will influence the USD price dynamics and help determine the near-term trajectory for the USD/CHF pair.
Technical levels to watch