USD/CHF hits 1-week tops, inching closer to 0.97 handle ahead of FOMC

Haresh Menghani FXStreet

• A sudden pickup in the USD demand helped build on the recent recovery move.
• Technical buying above mid-0.9600s provides an additional boost in the last hour.
• Further gains are likely to be limited amid cautious mood and ahead of the FOMC.

The USD/CHF pair finally broke out of its Asian/early European session consolidation phase and spiked to one week tops in the last hour.

After yesterday's directionless two-way moves, the pair regained positive traction on Wednesday and built on its recent recovery move from five-month lows set last Friday. A goodish pickup in the US Dollar demand, despite the ongoing retracement in the US Treasury bond yields, was seen as one of the key factors driving the pair higher.

The latest leg of a sudden spike over the past couple of hours could further be attributed to some technical buying above the Asian session tops, near the 0.9655-60 region. This coupled with some repositioning trade ahead of today's key event risk - the latest FOMC decision further collaborated to the ongoing positive momentum.

Further gains, however, are likely to remain capped amid the prevalent cautious mood around European equity markets, which tends to underpin the Swiss Franc's safe-haven demand. Investors might also refrain from placing any aggressive bets and prefer to wait for fresh clues over the Fed's near-term monetary policy outlook, and the pace of rate increases beyond September.

Technical levels to watch

The 0.9700 handle is likely to act as an immediate hurdle, above which the pair is likely to aim towards testing the very important 200-day SMA support-turned-resistance near the 0.9730-35 region. On the flip side, immediate support is now pegged near mid-0.9600s, which if broken might prompt some fresh selling and drag the pair back towards the 0.9600 round figure mark.

Author

Haresh Menghani

FXStreet

Haresh Menghani is a detail-oriented professional with 10+ years of extensive experience in analysing the global financial markets.

EUR/USD climbs to daily highs near 1.1820

EUR/USD now picks up pace and advances to the area of daily peaks north of the 1.1800 barrier at the end of the week. The pair’s decent move higher comes against the backdrop of a generalised lack of direction in the FX galaxy and the mild offered stance in the US Dollar.

GBP/USD trims losses, retests 1.3460

After briefly challenging its key 200-day SMA near 1.3440, GBP/USD now manages to regain some balance and revisit the 1.3460 zone on Friday. Cable’s pullback comes as the selling pressure on the Greenback gathers traction, reigniting some recovery in the risk-linked space.

Gold flirts with four-week highs past $5,200

Gold extends its rebound, climbing for a third consecutive session and pushing back above the $5,200 mark per troy ounce on Friday. The move higher continues to draw support from lingering geopolitical tensions and the ongoing uncertainty surrounding US trade policy, both of which are keeping safe-haven demand firmly in play.

Bitcoin, Ethereum and Ripple consolidate with short-term cautious bullish bias

Bitcoin, Ethereum and Ripple are consolidating near key technical areas on Friday, showing mild signs of stabilization after recent volatility. BTC holds above $67,000 despite mild losses so far this week, while ETH hovers around $2,000 after a rejection near its upper consolidation boundary.

Breaking: US and Israel attack Iran, risk aversion to sweep global markets

Early Saturday, United States (US) President Donald Trump announced that the US had begun “major combat operations” in Iran, following Israel’s pre-emptive missile attacks against Tehran.

Starknet unveils strkBTC, shielded Bitcoin transactions on Ethereum Layer 2

Starknet, the Ethereum Layer 2 network developed by StarkWare, today announced strkBTC, a wrapped Bitcoin asset that introduces optional shielding while preserving full DeFi composability.