USD/CHF struggles for direction, stuck in a range below 0.8900 mark

USD/CHF oscillated in a range below 0.8900 mark through the early European session.
The upbeat market mood undermined the safe-haven CHF and extended some support.
Retreating US bond yields kept the USD bulls on the defensive and capped the upside.

Haresh Menghani FXStreet

The USD/CHF pair struggled for a firm intraday direction and remained confined in a narrow trading band, below the 0.8900 mark through the early European session.

A combination of diverging forces failed to provide any meaningful impetus to the major, rather led to a subdued/range-bound price action on Thursday. The downside remains cushioned amid the prevalent risk-on environment, which tends to undermine demand for the safe-haven Swiss franc.

The market has been pricing in the prospects for more aggressive fiscal spending in 2021 under Joe Biden's presidency. The bets increased further after Biden pitched a plan to pump $1.9 trillion into the struggling US economy during his first hours as the new US President on Wednesday.

This comes amid the optimism over the rollout of vaccines for the highly contagious coronavirus disease and fueled hopes for a strong economic recovery. This, in turn, continued boosting investors' confidence and remained supportive of the ongoing rally across the global equity markets.

On the other hand, the US dollar remained depressed for the fourth consecutive session and was further pressured by a weaker tone around the US Treasury bond yields. This was seen as one of the key factors that capped gains and held the USD/CHF pair well within the previous day's trading range.

Market participants now look forward to the US macro data in order to grab some short-term trading opportunities. Thursday's US economic docket features the release of Philly Fed Manufacturing Index, Initial Weekly Jobless Claims and housing market data – Building Permits and Housing Starts.

Technical levels to watch

USD/CHF

Overview
Today last price	0.8888
Today Daily Change	-0.0006
Today Daily Change %	-0.07
Today daily open	0.8894

Trends
Daily SMA20	0.8864
Daily SMA50	0.8936
Daily SMA100	0.9036
Daily SMA200	0.9238

Levels
Previous Daily High	0.892
Previous Daily Low	0.8867
Previous Weekly High	0.892
Previous Weekly Low	0.8849
Previous Monthly High	0.9093
Previous Monthly Low	0.8794
Daily Fibonacci 38.2%	0.89
Daily Fibonacci 61.8%	0.8888
Daily Pivot Point S1	0.8868
Daily Pivot Point S2	0.8841
Daily Pivot Point S3	0.8814
Daily Pivot Point R1	0.8921
Daily Pivot Point R2	0.8947
Daily Pivot Point R3	0.8974

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 flirts with daily highs, retargets 1.1900

EUR/USD regains upside traction, returning to the 1.1880 zone and refocusing its attention to the key 1.1900 barrier. The pair’s slight gains comes against the backdrop of a humble decline in the US Dollar as investors continue to assess the latest US CPI readings and the potential Fed’s rate path.

GBP/USD remains well bid around 1.3650

GBP/USD maintains its upside momentum in place, hovering around daily highs near 1.3650 and setting aside part of the recent three-day drop. Cable’s improved sentiment comes on the back of the Greenback’s irresolute price action, while recent hawkish comments from the BoE’s Pill also collaborate with the uptick.

Gold clings to gains just above $5,000/oz

Gold is reclaiming part of the ground lost on Wednesday’s marked decline, as bargain-hunters keep piling up and lifting prices past the key $5,000 per troy ounce. The precious metal’s move higher is also underpinned by the slight pullback in the US Dollar and declining US Treasury yields across the curve.

Crypto Today: Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP in choppy price action, weighed down by falling institutional interest

Bitcoin's upside remains largely constrained amid weak technicals and declining institutional interest. Ethereum trades sideways above $1,900 support with the upside capped below $2,000 amid ETF outflows.

Week ahead – Data blitz, Fed Minutes and RBNZ decision in the spotlight

US GDP and PCE inflation are main highlights, plus the Fed minutes. UK and Japan have busy calendars too with focus on CPI. Flash PMIs for February will also be doing the rounds. RBNZ meets, is unlikely to follow RBA’s hawkish path.

Ripple Price Forecast: XRP potential bottom could be in sight

Ripple edges up above the intraday low of $1.35 at the time of writing on Friday amid mixed price actions across the crypto market. The remittance token failed to hold support at $1.40 the previous day, reflecting risk-off sentiment amid a decline in retail and institutional sentiment.