USD/CHF falls to two-week low, bears flirt with 0.7900 amid sustained USD selling
- USD/CHF attracts sellers for the fourth straight day amid a broadly weaker US Dollar.
- Fed rate cut bets and the US government shutdown continue to weigh on the buck.
- US-China trade tensions and geopolitical risks benefit the CHF’s safe-haven status.
The USD/CHF pair continues losing ground for the fourth successive day – also marking the fifth day of a negative move in the previous six– and drops to an over two-week low during the Asian session on Thursday. Spot prices currently trade around the 0.7900 mark and seem poised to depreciate further amid the prevalent US Dollar (USD) selling bias.
The USD Index (DXY), which tracks the Greenback against a basket of currencies, drops to an over one-week low amid dovish Federal Reserve (Fed) expectations and a prolonged US government shutdown. In fact, traders now seem to have fully prices in two more interest rate cuts by the US central bank in October and in December. Meanwhile, the US Senate once again rejected a House Republicans’ short-term funding bill, aimed to end the government closure, for the tenth time on Thursday.
This, along with economic risks stemming from escalating US-China trade tensions, exerts downward pressure on the buck and the USD/CHF pair. Signs of strain in US-China relations emerged after US President Donald Trump threatened to raise tariffs on Chinese goods to 100% and China enhanced restrictions on the export of rare earths. Moreover, both countries announced the tit-for-tat port fees earlier this week, fueling concerns about an all-out trade war between the world's two largest economies.
Apart from this, persistent geopolitical uncertainties temper investors' appetite for riskier assets, which is evident from a weaker tone around the equity markets. The anti-risk flow is seen benefiting the safe-haven Swiss Franc (CHF) and contributing to the USD/CHF pair's ongoing retracement slide from the monthly peak, around the 0.8075 region touched last week.
US Dollar Price This week
The table below shows the percentage change of US Dollar (USD) against listed major currencies this week. US Dollar was the strongest against the Australian Dollar.
| USD | EUR | GBP | JPY | CAD | AUD | NZD | CHF | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| USD | -0.79% | -0.77% | -1.30% | 0.33% | 0.56% | 0.17% | -1.37% | |
| EUR | 0.79% | 0.03% | -0.49% | 1.12% | 1.45% | 0.98% | -0.60% | |
| GBP | 0.77% | -0.03% | -0.46% | 1.10% | 1.42% | 0.95% | -0.65% | |
| JPY | 1.30% | 0.49% | 0.46% | 1.62% | 1.86% | 1.56% | -0.10% | |
| CAD | -0.33% | -1.12% | -1.10% | -1.62% | 0.20% | -0.13% | -1.72% | |
| AUD | -0.56% | -1.45% | -1.42% | -1.86% | -0.20% | -0.45% | -2.03% | |
| NZD | -0.17% | -0.98% | -0.95% | -1.56% | 0.13% | 0.45% | -1.58% | |
| CHF | 1.37% | 0.60% | 0.65% | 0.10% | 1.72% | 2.03% | 1.58% |
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).
Author
Haresh Menghani
FXStreet
Haresh Menghani is a detail-oriented professional with 10+ years of extensive experience in analysing the global financial markets.
