USD/CHF corrects to near 0.8040 as US Dollar’s rally hits pause

USD/CHF ticks down to near 0.8040 as the US Dollar struggles to extend its upside.
Fed’s Hammack stated that the US NFP data for September was a “bit stale”.
Investors await SNB Maryin Schlegel’s speech at 12:40 GMT.

Sagar Dua FXStreet

The USD/CHF pair retraces to near 0.8040 during the late Asian trading session on Friday from its weekly high of 0.8078 posted the previous day. The Swiss Franc pair struggles to extend its upside move as THE rally in the US Dollar (USD) halts after the release of the United States (US) Nonfarm Payrolls (NFP) data for September on Thursday.

The US Dollar had a strong run-up as traders pared bets supporting an interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve (Fed) in its December policy meeting.

At the press time, the US Dollar Index (DXY), which tracks the Greenback’s value against six major currencies, trades subduedly around 100.15 after revisiting an over five-month high of 100.65 the previous day.

The US NFP data showed that the Unemployment Rate rose to 4.4% against expectations and the prior release of 4.3%, and employers laid off 4K workers in August. However, job creation in September remained robust as the economy added a fresh 119K workers, beating estimates of 50K.

Theoretically, the impact of the US NFP data on the US Dollar and expectations for the Fed’s monetary policy outlook remains significant. However, it is expected to be limited this time as the data belongs to September and not to October.

On Thursday, Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack stated that the employment data is a “bit stale” and stressed to focus on bringing inflation down. "Jobs report is a bit stale but is in line with expectations, while high inflation is still a real issue for the economy,” Hammack said.

Meanwhile, the Swiss Franc (CHF) trades firmly ahead of the speech from Swiss National Bank (SNB) Chairman Martin Schlegel at 12:40 GMT. Investors will pay close attention to SNB Schlegel’s speech to get cues about when inflationary pressures will start rebounding after remaining significantly lower for months.

Economic Indicator

Unemployment Rate

The Unemployment Rate, released by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), is the percentage of the total civilian labor force that is not in paid employment but is actively seeking employment. The rate is usually higher in recessionary economies compared to economies that are growing. Generally, a decrease in the Unemployment Rate is seen as bullish for the US Dollar (USD), while an increase is seen as bearish. That said, the number by itself usually can't determine the direction of the next market move, as this will also depend on the headline Nonfarm Payroll reading, and the other data in the BLS report.

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