USD/CHF reached a year-to-date low of 0.9960 and trades now at a perfect 1.0000. The pair last reached this rate in April 2008. The Swissy enjoys general dollar weakness – this sent EUR/USD to 1.5140.

Apart from the dollar weakness, USD/CHF has now been released by the Swiss National Bank: the SNB keeps its eye on the EUR/CHF, and clearly marked the a rate of 1.50 as a support line. I already wrote that this resistance line is a courtesy of the bank.

But regarding the US dollar, the SNB cares less. Switzerland is surrounded by members of the European Union – all of them belonging to the Euro-zone. What about the greenback? They gave up on it, as the Russians began making transactions in Canadian dollars today.

All of their interventions against the dollar failed to work.

Another move by the SNB came from its chairman: Jean-Pierre Roth – he said that central banks may soon start withdrawing stimulus as global recovery is seen. These positive words help the Swissy gain against the greenback, as the “safe haven” dollar is not needed anymore.

What’s next for USD/CHF? The all time low is at 0.9635, which was a swing bottom reached in March 2008. But that looks too far now…

The US dollar index made a nice rise this week, moving from 74.82 to 75.66, somewhat stopping the landslide. The comeback of the greenback, that was very strong two weeks ago, was probably more than a short episode:

1. EUR/USD: The Euro is stuck in a range between 1.48 to 1.5050. This range trading has been going on for more than two weeks. The return of Europe to growth doesn’t push the currency higher. This week it lost about 100 pips, sending it to 1.4844 at the time of writing.
2. GBP/USD: The Pound had a good start to the week, which sent it as high as 1.6876. Despite rising prices in Britain, the Pound made a sharp U-turn, and is about to close the week at 1.6486, a weekly loss of over 250 pips. Back to normal for the Pound.
3. USD/JPY: The Japanese Yen also enjoys fear, and it made a weekly gain against the dollar, so it made big gains against the crosses. GBP/JPY had a terrible week. All in all, USD/JPY is about to close at 88.63, a loss of of about 70 pips.
4. USD/CHF: The strong Swiss economy bounced off parity once again, being 47 pips from it this time. But the dollar’s strength swept the pair back up to 1.0191, a weekly gain of 100 pips.
5. USD/CAD: The Canadian dollar, which was last week’s big winner, was also hurt by the greenback’s move. USD/CAD broke the 1.06 resistance line that was broken to the downside just last week.  All in all, USD/CAD rose to 1.0724, about 235 pips higher. The Canadian dollar is not the big loser of this week, but was seriously hurt.
6. AUD/USD:  The Australian economy enjoys a high interest rate, growth in employment, and lots of positive figures. Well, this week it lost its shine,  and got out of the range of the past two weeks. At 0.9138, the Aussie lost over 200 pips in a bad week.
7. NZD/USD: Also the kiwi lost about over 200 pips. If we look at the percentage rate, it’s significantly more than its neighbor, the Aussie. At 0.7232, the kiwi also lost a lot o its shine.

That’s it for this week. Weekly  forecasts will be published towards the opening of the new week. Have a great weekend.

USD/CAD

The Canadian dollar made a move during Canadian Thanksgiving. After closing at 1.0421, USD/CAD went to the low 1.03s, where it was stuck above the support line of 1.03. This was a significant resistance and support line during 2003.

And now, when holidays around the world ended, the Canadian dollar enjoyed the weakness of the greenback and made a breakout. USD/CAD fell below 1.03 and is now trading at 1.0275.

On the road south to parity there’s no additional resistance support line. A round number is a psychological barrier, as well as an intuitive number to place stop loss order.

In the case of USD/CAD, parity isn’t only a very round number. 1:1 served as a support and resistance line in the past as well.

For more on the Canadian dollar’s week, read the USD/CAD Outlook.

USD/CHF

The second currency that’s getting close to parity with the dollar is even closer. The Swiss Franc made a strong move: USD/CHF fell from 1.0250 to just below 1.02. But here, there still a barrier.

USD/CHF bottomed at 1.0176 on September 22nd. Although it was a swing move then, it was followed by another dip a day later. Currently trading at 1.02, USD/CHF is closer to parity, but will have to overcome the 1.0170 support line.

Similar to the Canadian dollar, parity served as a support line in July 2008.

Both currency pairs traded below 1 during the winter of 2007-2008. This ground isn’t uncharted to them. Are they going to hit parity soon?

Further reading: About how Friday’s excellent employment figures in Canada got USD/CAD closer to parity.