USD/CHF sliding back towards 0.8800
- The USD/CHF is slipping back towards the 0.8800 handle.
- The US Dollar is down over 3% for November against the rebounding Swiss Franc.
- The Fed's upcoming Meeting Minutes could jumpstart the markets to close out Tuesday's trading.
The USD/CHF is continuing to drift lower on Tuesday, heading for 0.8800 as investors gear up for the Federal Reserve's (Fed) latest Meeting Minutes, due at 14:00 EST.
The Swiss Franc (CHF) has been on the rebound as of late, with Switzerland enjoying a sedate inflation rate in comparison with the rest of the European bloc, while the Swiss National Bank (SNB) has been regularly selling off its foreign currency reserves.
SNB flows force CHF higher, Fed could misalign with investor expectations
The SNB's foreign reserves reached massive levels over the last few years, reaching a size approximating the entire Swiss gross domestic product. The SNB has routinely outright purchased foreign currencies to prevent rapid appreciation in the desirable CHF in an effort to defend their domestic exporters.
But when the SNB's balance sheet gets too large, they're forced to reverse flows back into currency markets, dumping foreign cash reserves and repurchasing Francs, driving the price steadily higher.
The Fed's upcoming Meeting Minutes could galvanize US Dollar (USD) markets. Investors have baked in an expectation of a dovish Fed moving forward after last week's inflation figures came in below expectations, leading markets to celebrate the end of the rate hike cycle and begin looking forward to eventual rate cuts.
A hawkish showing from the Fed's Meeting Minutes could throw cold water on market participants' expectations, rattling the US Dollar as investors race to adjust their forward-looking positioning.
Swiss Franc price today
The table below shows the percentage change of Swiss Franc (CHF) against listed major currencies today. Swiss Franc was the strongest against the Euro.
| USD | EUR | GBP | CAD | AUD | JPY | NZD | CHF | |
| USD | 0.22% | -0.31% | -0.22% | 0.01% | -0.29% | -0.28% | -0.10% | |
| EUR | -0.21% | -0.51% | -0.42% | -0.22% | -0.50% | -0.47% | -0.31% | |
| GBP | 0.31% | 0.53% | 0.09% | 0.30% | 0.03% | 0.03% | 0.21% | |
| CAD | 0.23% | 0.44% | -0.08% | 0.22% | -0.06% | -0.04% | 0.13% | |
| AUD | -0.01% | 0.23% | -0.30% | -0.21% | -0.29% | -0.27% | -0.07% | |
| JPY | 0.29% | 0.51% | -0.02% | 0.06% | 0.29% | 0.01% | 0.20% | |
| NZD | 0.26% | 0.47% | -0.05% | 0.04% | 0.25% | -0.04% | 0.16% | |
| CHF | 0.10% | 0.32% | -0.22% | -0.12% | 0.10% | -0.18% | -0.16% |
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 Euro from the left column and move along the horizontal line to the Japanese Yen, the percentage change displayed in the box will represent EUR (base)/JPY (quote).
USD/CHF Technical Outlook
The Swiss Franc eased back against the US Dollar from 2023's nearly decade-high of 0.8552 in July to early October's 0.9244, but the Franc has once again resumed appreciating, taking the US Dollar through the 0.9000 handle and sinking the pair back towards 0.8800.
The USD/CHF spent most of October and early November hung up on the 200-day Simple Moving Average (SMA) between 0.9050 and 0.9000, but the pair is currently seeing acceleration towards the downside as the CHF renews its climb.
The 50-day SMA made a bullish crossover of the longer 200-day SMA at the beginning of November, but bearish action is set to cause the 50-day SMA to whip back towards the downside, which would provide technical resistance for any bullish near-term plays in the USD/CHF.
USD/CHF Daily Chart
Author
Joshua Gibson
FXStreet
Joshua joins the FXStreet team as an Economics and Finance double major from Vancouver Island University with twelve years' experience as an independent trader focusing on technical analysis.
