USD/CHF refreshes session tops and retreats, up little around 0.9090-95 area

• USD/CHF regained positive traction on Wednesday amid a goodish pickup in the USD demand.
• Surging US bond yields, upbeat US durable goods orders provided a modest lift to the greenback.
• Reluctance to place any aggressive bets ahead of Powell’s speech kept a lid on any strong gains.

The USD/CHF pair climbed further beyond the 0.9100 mark and refreshed daily tops during the early North American session, albeit lacked any strong follow-through.

The pair managed to find decent support near the 0.9070 horizontal zone and regained positive traction on Wednesday amid a goodish pickup in the US dollar demand. The ongoing upsurge in the US Treasury bond yields assisted the greenback to attract some buying, which was seen as a key factor behind the USD/CHF pair’s modest uptick.

The already stronger USD got an additional boost following the release of better-than-expected US Durable Goods Ordes data. The headline orders surpassed estimates by a big margin and increased 11.2% MoM in July. Adding to this, the previous month’s reading was also revised higher to 7.7% from 7.3% reported previously.

However, a softer tone around the equity markets, amid fresh concerns over the US economic recovery, extended some support to the Swiss franc’s safe-haven status. Moreover, investors seemed reluctant to place any aggressive bets ahead of the Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s speech at the Jackson Hole Symposium. This, in turn, kept a lid on any further gains for the USD/CHF pair, at least for the time being.

Even from a technical perspective, the pair has been alternating gains and losses over the past one week of this. This makes it prudent to wait for a sustained break in either direction before positioning for the USD/CHF pair’s near-term trajectory.

Technical levels to watch