USD/CHF eases from tops, drifts back closer to 0.9700 mark

• USD/CHF regains some positive traction amid resurgent USD demand.
• The prevailing cautious mood kept a lid on the intraday positive move.
• Investors now look forward to the FOMC minutes for a fresh impetus.

The bid tone surrounding the greenback assisted the USD/CHF pair to hold comfortably above the 0.9700 mark, albeit the intraday uptick lacked any strong follow-through.

The pair caught some fresh bids on Wednesday and recovered a part of the previous day’s rejection slide from the 0.9800 round-figure mark amid a strong pickup in the US dollar buying interest.

The latest optimism over the fall in the number of reported cases faded quickly after the New York state – the centre of the US outbreak – and the UK announced their highest daily death toll on Tuesday.

The overall coronavirus pandemic situation once again boosted the USD’s status as the global reserve currency, which eventually turned out to be a key factor that assisted the pair to regain traction.

Meanwhile, the cautious mood around the global equity markets underpinned the Swiss franc’s safe-haven demand. This coupled with a negative tone around the US Treasury bond yields capped the upside.

The pair failed to capitalize on its early uptick and has now retreated around 30 pips from the vicinity of 100-day SMA, indicating the emergence of some fresh selling pressure at higher levels.

Hence, it will be prudent to wait for some strong follow-through buying before traders start positioning for any further near-term appreciating move amid absent relevant market-moving economic data.

Later during the North-American session, the release of the FOMC monetary policy meeting minutes might influence the USD price dynamics and produce some meaningful trading opportunities.

Technical levels to watch