- CHF struggles to find demand as a safe-haven on Friday.
- US Dollar Index pushes higher above the 98.50 mark.
- Nonfarm Payrolls in US is expected to come in at 160K in January.
The USD/CHF pair closed the last four trading days in the positive territory and continued to edge higher on Friday to touch its best level since December 27th at 0.9772. As of writing, the pair was up 0.2% on the day at 0.9763.
The sour market mood fails to help the CHF find demand as a safe-haven after the Swiss National Bank made it clear that it was ready to cut its policy rate further and intervene in the FX markets if needed to curb the CHF’s value.
Will DXY stretch higher after NFP?
On the other hand, the broad-based USD strength it providing an additional boost to the pair. Ahead of the closely-watched Nonfarm Payrolls (NFP) report, the US Dollar Index is (DXY) staying at its highest level since early December near 98.60. The upbeat data from the US and the selling pressure surrounding major European currencies helped the greenback find demand throughout the week.
US NFP Preview: 6 Major Banks expectations for January payrolls report.
Previewing the NFP data, “we expect a mild-weather boost to payrolls to be offset by payback in retail and slowing in the trend (with downward revisions), but the January data are especially subject to surprise; unadjusted payrolls typically drop by about 3 million m/m in January, said TD Securities analysts. “Net-net, our 150K forecast is below consensus, but with relatively low conviction. We are neutral relative to consensus on the unemployment rate and earnings.”
Consumer Credit Change will also be featured in the US economic docket but is unlikely to receive a significant market reaction.
Technical levels to watch for
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