USD/CHF edges lower as SNB rules out negative interest rates
|- The US Dollar pulls back from session highs, trading around intraday lows against the Swiss Franc.
- The Swiss National Bank downplays disinflationary pressures and rules out negative interest rates.
- The SNB minutes highlight Switzerland’s economic resilience despite US trade tensions.
USD/CHF eases slightly on Thursday after reaching an intraday high of 0.7987, trading around 0.7950 at the time of writing. The release of the minutes from the Swiss National Bank’s (SNB) latest monetary policy meeting earlier in the day provided mild support to the Swiss Franc (CHF), while the US Dollar (USD) maintains an overall upward bias amid cautious market sentiment.
The SNB kept its policy rate unchanged at 0% and dismissed the prospect of further monetary easing, removing market expectations for negative rates in the coming months. "Currently, market implied policy rates suggest only 7 bps of rate cuts on a 3-month view is likely. This cautious outlook is consistent with the lack of dovish content in the September minutes", notes Rabobank’s FX analyst Jane Foley.
The SNB report emphasized that disinflationary pressures are not persistent and that current policy remains appropriate. However, the central bank pointed to trade tensions with the United States (US) and weaker global demand as potential risks for the Swiss economy, though the outlook still suggests moderate growth.
The US Dollar, on its side, is supported by renewed risk aversion after Washington announced new export restrictions targeting China. The atmosphere remains tense ahead of bilateral meetings scheduled in Malaysia from October 24 to 27, in the run-up to the summit between the US and Chinese Presidents.
In the United States, investors are now turning their attention to Friday’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) data for further guidance on the Federal Reserve’s (Fed) policy outlook ahead of the October meeting, for which the markets anticipate an almost certain interest rate cut of 25-basis-point according to the CME FedWatch tool.
US Dollar Price Today
The table below shows the percentage change of US Dollar (USD) against listed major currencies today. US Dollar was the strongest against the Japanese Yen.
| USD | EUR | GBP | JPY | CAD | AUD | NZD | CHF | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| USD | -0.02% | 0.28% | 0.49% | 0.00% | -0.37% | -0.18% | -0.09% | |
| EUR | 0.02% | 0.31% | 0.53% | 0.03% | -0.34% | -0.15% | -0.06% | |
| GBP | -0.28% | -0.31% | 0.20% | -0.26% | -0.65% | -0.46% | -0.37% | |
| JPY | -0.49% | -0.53% | -0.20% | -0.48% | -0.85% | -0.68% | -0.57% | |
| CAD | -0.01% | -0.03% | 0.26% | 0.48% | -0.37% | -0.18% | -0.09% | |
| AUD | 0.37% | 0.34% | 0.65% | 0.85% | 0.37% | 0.19% | 0.27% | |
| NZD | 0.18% | 0.15% | 0.46% | 0.68% | 0.18% | -0.19% | 0.09% | |
| CHF | 0.09% | 0.06% | 0.37% | 0.57% | 0.09% | -0.27% | -0.09% |
The heat map shows percentage changes of major currencies against each other. The base currency is picked from the left column, while the quote currency is picked from the top row. For example, if you pick the US Dollar from the left column and move along the horizontal line to the Japanese Yen, the percentage change displayed in the box will represent USD (base)/JPY (quote).
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