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USD/CHF rallies to over one-week top, close to mid-0.8300s on the tariff-block news

  • USD/CHF resumes its weekly uptrend after a US federal court blocked Trump's tariffs.
  • Wednesday's hawkish FOMC Minutes boosts the USD and contributes to the move up.
  • Traders now look forward to Thursday’s US macro data for short-term opportunities.

The USD/CHF pair regains positive traction following the previous day's directionless price move and jumps to over a one-week high, around the 0.8345-0.8350 area during the Asian session Thursday. Moreover, the fundamental backdrop supports prospects for an extension of a multi-day-old uptrend from sub-0.8200 levels, or a nearly three-week low touched on Monday.

The global risk sentiment gets a strong boost after the Court of International Trade on Wednesday blocked US President Donald Trump’s proposed reciprocal trade tariffs. Wall Street futures and equities across Asia rise sharply in reaction to the court ruling, which, in turn, is seen weighing on the safe-haven Swiss Franc (CHF). This along with a strong follow-through US Dollar (USD) buying, turns out to be another factor acting as a tailwind for the USD/CHF pair.

In fact, the USD Index (DXY), which tracks the Greenback against a basket of currencies, scales higher for the third straight day in the wake of the tariff-block news and hawkish FOMC Minuets released on Wednesday. Federal Reserve (Fed) officials agreed to maintain the wait-and-see approach on interest rates amid the uncertainty about the economic outlook and trade policies. This tempers hopes for more aggressive Fed rate cuts and continues to push the USD higher.

However, traders are still pricing in the possibility that the US central bank will deliver at least two 25 basis points (bps) rate cuts by the end of this year. This, in turn, holds back the USD bulls from placing aggressive bets and caps the USD/CHF pair. Market participants now look forward to the US economic docket – featuring the release of the Prelim Q1 GDP print, the usual Weekly Jobless Claims, and Pending Home Sales data – for short-term trading opportunities.

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 Swiss Franc.

USDEURGBPJPYCADAUDNZDCHF
USD0.39%0.25%0.63%0.10%0.12%0.53%0.68%
EUR-0.39%-0.13%0.23%-0.29%-0.20%0.13%0.28%
GBP-0.25%0.13%0.35%-0.15%-0.06%0.25%0.33%
JPY-0.63%-0.23%-0.35%-0.53%-0.52%-0.15%-0.04%
CAD-0.10%0.29%0.15%0.53%-0.03%0.43%0.47%
AUD-0.12%0.20%0.06%0.52%0.03%0.34%0.39%
NZD-0.53%-0.13%-0.25%0.15%-0.43%-0.34%0.05%
CHF-0.68%-0.28%-0.33%0.04%-0.47%-0.39%-0.05%

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

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

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