USD/CHF eases from daily highs, stays above 1.0000

• Dismal market mood helps CHF gather strength on Friday.
• US Dollar Index consolidates this week’s gains.
• A weekly close above parity could open the door for more gains.

The USD/CHF pair rose to its highest level since mid-November near 1.0030 earlier this week but struggled to push higher on Friday. Nevertheless, the pair is still up more than 50 pips on a weekly basis and is looking to close in the positive territory for the second straight week. As of writing, the pair was down 0.1% on the day at 1.0010.

Reports of the U.S. considering three different options of car tariffs on German automobiles hurt the market sentiment today and weighed on the major European equity indexes while helping the CHF find demand as a safe-haven. At the moment, Germany’s DAX is down nearly 0.6% on the day and the Euro Stoxx 50 is erasing 0.4%. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 Futures is losing 0.5% and suggesting that the risk-off mood is likely to dominate the market action in the second half of the day.

On the other hand, the US Dollar Index remains on track to snap its 6-day winning streak as investors are looking to book their profits ahead of the weekend. With no significant macroeconomic data releases from the U.S., the index is likely to stay in its daily range and was last seen down 0.07% at 96.50.

Earlier today,  the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) reported that the unemployment rate in Switzerland stayed unchanged at 2.4% on a monthly basis and came in line with the market expectation.

Technical levels to consider

With a break below 1.0000 (psychological level/parity), the pair could extend its slide toward 0.9960 (20-DMA) and 0.9900 (50-DMA). On the upside, resistances are located at 1.0030 (Feb. 7 high), 1.0090 (Nov. 16, 2018, low) and 1.0130 (Nov. 13, 2018, low).