USD/CHF slumps to fresh 5-day lows near 0.98 amid broad-based USD weakness

• US Dollar Index drops below 96 on Monday.
• European stocks record modest losses.
• Coming up: ISM non-manufacturing PMI.

With the greenback starting the week on the back foot, the USD/CHF pair suffered losses and slumped to its lowest level since January 2 at 0.9810. As of writing, the pair was trading at 0.9815, losing 0.5% on a daily basis.

The US Dollar Index, which fell sharply following FOMC Chairman Powell’s comments on Friday, failed to stage recovery on Monday as investors remain on the sidelines ahead of the critical PMI data. Commenting on the disappointing ISM Manufacturing PMI data, Powell said it was worth “keeping an eye” on the drop in ISM figures. Ahead of the 15GMT data release, the US Dollar Index is down 0.33% on the day at 95.88.

Meanwhile, major equity indexes in Europe suffer modest losses on Monday to allow the CHF to continue to gather strength as a safe-haven. At the moment, Germany’s DAX is down 0.43% on the day while the UK’s FTSE is losing 0.4%.

On Tuesday, the SECO will publish December unemployment data from Switzerland, which is expected to remain unchanged at 2.4%. On Wednesday, the FOMC is scheduled to release the minutes of its December meeting.

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