USD/CHF accelerates above 0.9600, hits highest since mid-January

CHF recovers ground against GBP and EUR but extends slide versus USD.
DXY heads for highest close in a month.
Key data ahead: US employment report.

Matías Salord FXStreet

The USD/CHF pair is rising for the fourth consecutive day. The rally today is being driven by a stronger US Dollar across the board. The greenback received support from the improvement in market sentiment regarding the consequences of US-China trade tensions.

US Dollar Index Futures are higher today, headed toward the first close above 90.00 in a month. The index peaked at 90.23 and then pulled back marginally.

The surprise today is that despite the rally in equity prices the Swiss Franc is also higher against the Pound and the Euro. Usually, the currency is seen as a safe haven that weakens when equity price rise sharply. A few minutes ago, Andrea Maechler, member of the Swiss National Bank board, mentioned that the Swiss franc continues to be seen as a safe haven, even after the recent depreciation.

USD/CHF Technical outlook

Ahead of the NFP, the pair continues to move with a clear upside bias. The rally gained momentum after breaking the 0.9560/65 area. Today price peaked at 0.9639, highest since January 22. Since the beginning of the week, it gained more than a hundred pips and some technical indicator are starting to show overbought conditions but so far, no clear signals of a correction are seen.

Immediate resistance is seen at 0.9640 (Apr 5 high), 0.9665 (Jan 16 & 18 high) and 0.9700. On the flip side support might lie at 0.9610, 0.9595 and 0.9570 (short-term uptrend line from last week low).

Author

Matías Salord

FXStreet

Matías started in financial markets in 2008, after graduating in Economics. He was trained in chart analysis and then became an educator. He also studied Journalism. He started writing analyses for specialized websites before joining FXStreet.

EUR/USD flirts with daily highs, retargets 1.1900

EUR/USD regains upside traction, returning to the 1.1880 zone and refocusing its attention to the key 1.1900 barrier. The pair’s slight gains comes against the backdrop of a humble decline in the US Dollar as investors continue to assess the latest US CPI readings and the potential Fed’s rate path.

GBP/USD remains well bid around 1.3650

GBP/USD maintains its upside momentum in place, hovering around daily highs near 1.3650 and setting aside part of the recent three-day drop. Cable’s improved sentiment comes on the back of the Greenback’s irresolute price action, while recent hawkish comments from the BoE’s Pill also collaborate with the uptick.

Gold clings to gains just above $5,000/oz

Gold is reclaiming part of the ground lost on Wednesday’s marked decline, as bargain-hunters keep piling up and lifting prices past the key $5,000 per troy ounce. The precious metal’s move higher is also underpinned by the slight pullback in the US Dollar and declining US Treasury yields across the curve.

Crypto Today: Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP in choppy price action, weighed down by falling institutional interest

Bitcoin's upside remains largely constrained amid weak technicals and declining institutional interest. Ethereum trades sideways above $1,900 support with the upside capped below $2,000 amid ETF outflows.

Week ahead – Data blitz, Fed Minutes and RBNZ decision in the spotlight

US GDP and PCE inflation are main highlights, plus the Fed minutes. UK and Japan have busy calendars too with focus on CPI. Flash PMIs for February will also be doing the rounds. RBNZ meets, is unlikely to follow RBA’s hawkish path.

Ripple Price Forecast: XRP potential bottom could be in sight

Ripple edges up above the intraday low of $1.35 at the time of writing on Friday amid mixed price actions across the crypto market. The remittance token failed to hold support at $1.40 the previous day, reflecting risk-off sentiment amid a decline in retail and institutional sentiment.