The Swissy just can’t seem to get back on its feet, can it? It took another beating from the Greenback yesterday as USD/CHF climbed to a high of .9232 before closing 6 pips below the .9200 handle. EUR/CHF, on the other hand, topped out at 1.2424 then closed 45 pips above 1.2300.
Switzerland’s CPI came in better than expected for September as it printed a 0.3% uptick instead of staying flat. That breaks the report’s 3-month losing streak as clothing and footwear prices soared during the month. On an annual basis, that brings Swiss CPI to 0.5%, higher than the predicted 0.3% rise.
Only the jobless rate is due from Switzerland today and the figure could come in at 3.0% for September. Unemployment has held steady at that level for the past four months already and, if we see a decline in joblessness, the Swiss franc could have a chance to bounce back. Keep an eye out for that report due 5:45 am GMT.
Don’t forget that today is NFP Friday! The U.S. jobs report could have a huge impact on dollar pairs today, especially if the actual figure comes in either much better or much worse than expected. Read my U.S. economic commentary to find out how it could go!
SNB officials must’ve been really happy with what they saw last Friday. Surprisingly, the Swiss franc weakened against both the dollar and the euro as USD/CHF rallied 73 pips and EUR/CHF climbed 34 pips. Will it continue to weaken this week?
No one wanted to buy the franc last Friday, even though Switzerland published pretty impressive employment data. The unemployment rate remained stable at 3.0% in September, just as expected. Considering the amount of doo-doo that other countries’ labor markets are in, Switzerland’s low unemployment rate is about as awesome as it gets!
This week, the only thing we have to look forward to is the monthly PPI report. Look for it to show a 0.2% rise when it comes out on Thursday at 7:15 am GMT. With such a light week ahead of us, it may be wise to let risk sentiment guide the way. If the markets turn risk averse, the franc could reprise its role as a safe haven currency, so don’t count it out!
VICTORY! With the dollar getting dumped across the board, the Swiss franc took advantage and ran roughshed all over the Greenback. USD/CHF dropped a massive 253 pips to close the day at .9034!
Interestingly, the franc was one of the biggest winners yesterday despite the risk taking we saw yesterday. This just goes to show how weak the dollar was yesterday, and it should be interesting to see whether this continues for the rest of the week. Remember, the SNB has made it adamant that they want a weaker franc. If we see the franc continue to climb up the charts, more specifically against the euro, I wouldn’t be surprised to hear some jawboning from the SNB.
Nothing on deck today, so watch out for more talks between Sarkozy and Merkel. If the markets continue to react positively to new developments, the Swissy may just break the .9000 handle.
The Swissy gave back some of its gains from the previous day as USD/CHF climbed to hit an intraday high of .9123 after opening at .9034. However, it put up a fight in the New York session, forcing the pair to close at .9058, just 24 pips higher on the day.
With no reports to guide the way, the Swissy just went with the flow yesterday. Sadly, it was forced to give ground to the dollar as the American currency pushed USD/CHF higher.
Today, we may see more of the same since Switzerland won’t be publishing any reports. In the meantime, be sure to track developments in Europe! Should things take a turn for the worse, we may just see the Swissy reprise its role as a safe haven currency. Good luck, fellas!
Uh-oh, the franc’s back at it again! For the second time in three days, the franc posted some decent gains versus the dollar, as USD/CHF dropped 105 pips to close at .8953. Will we hear some SNB rumblings once again?
While the franc’s gains were impressive, I don’t think that we’ll hear any jawboning from the SNB just yet. After all, the franc only rallied versus the dollar, but EUR/CHF is still above 1.2300 and close to the SNB’s “peg” of 1.2500.
Later at 7:15 am GMT, producer price index figures will be released. Expectations are that producers paid 0.2% more for their raw materials last month, which would mark the first time in 4 months that prices rose. I don’t expect this to move the market too much though, so it’d be best to just keep an eye out for risk sentiment.
No thanks to worse-than-expected data, the Swissy bulls’ hopes of ending the day with a win went kaput! EUR/CHF closed the day a 1.2372 after opening at 1.2347. Meanwhile, USD/CHF was up 19 pips at .8972 by the end of yesterday’s trading.
It was reported yesterday that producer prices contracted by 0.1% in September when analysts were expecting to see a 0.2% increase. Boo!
We don’t have any economic report scheduled from Switzerland today but we do have a few from the euro zone and the U.S. that you can trade. So make sure you don’t miss them!
It looks like the optimism with regard to euro zone’s debt situation was so strong that even the supposedly safe Swissy was able to rally verus the Greenback. USD/CHF ended the U.S. trading session at .8930, 42 pips lower from its opening price during the Asian session.
No tier 1 reports from Switzerland this week, but we will be seeing the country’s trade balance and the ZEW economic expectations survey on Thursday.
The market expects the trade balance to show a 1.73 billion CHF surplus, up from last month’s 760 milllion CHF surplus (revised down from 810 million CHF). No median forecast was put up for the ZEW survey, but any improvement from last month’s -75.7 will probably be taken very positively.
Without any economic data from Switzerland, the Swissy’s scorecard was mixed during yesterday’s trading. Against the euro, it was able to bag a 22-pip win when EUR/CHF closed at 1.2354. On the other hand, it lost 60 pips to the dollar as USD/CHF ended the day at .8987.
Our forex calendar is still blank for reports for the Swissy today. And so, it might be better to keep close tabs on market sentiment. If we hear more bad news from Europe, the Swissy might just be able to sneak some more pips out of the euro’s pockets!
Due to combination of good and bad news, the Swissy was unable to find clear direction and formed a doji on the daily chart. USD/CHF ended the day at .8982, just 5 pips lower from its opening price during the Asian session.
There were two main news events yesterday. First was China’s weaker-than-expected GDP report. Apparently, China only grew 9.1% during the third quarter, the lowest growth it has seen in 2 years. This caused a wide-reaching case of risk aversion, which led to a huge sell-off in high-yielding currencies.
The second one came from euro zone. France and Germany, two of the strongest nations in euro zone, announced that they would expand the EFSF to 2 trillion EUR. This stoked optimism in the market, which reversed the sell-off of higher-yielding currencies early in the day.
Even though Switzerland’s economic calendar is completely empty for the day, I think the Swissy will still experience a lot of volatility. A look at the economic calendars of other major economies will reveal that they’ve got a lot of tier 1 data scheduled for release! Stay tuned for those!
The Swissy got another good beating from the bears yesterday as the lack of economic reports made it vulnerable to market sentiment. Ka-pow! The euro knocked out 54 pips out of it when EUR/CHF ended the day at 1.2417. Meanwhile, the dollar snatched 49 pips out of it as USD/CHF closed higher at .9031.
But don’t fret Swissy bulls! Today we have a couple of economic reports from Switzerland that could boost the currency up the charts.
At 6:00 am GMT, the trade balance report for September will be released and it is anticipated to show a trade surplus of 1.37 billion CHF. Then at 9:00 am GMT, the ZEW economic expectations report will be on tap. A reading higher than the -75.7 we saw for September would probably fuel the Swissy bulls, so watch out!
As traders become jittery about the European debt crisis, the love for the safe haven franc also grows. The Swissy was able to post convincing gains yesterday as many traders remained unconvinced that European financial officials would be able to find a solution to euro zone’s debt problems. The Swissy closed the U.S. trading session 97 pips higher versus the euro and 92 pips higher against the dollar.
While the rumors of the increase in the EFSF was initially met by optimism, many traders are starting to doubt that any good will come out of it. After all, even if the EFSF is increased, it is not certain that euro zone’s debt problems will come to an end. 7
In other news, the Swiss trade balance came in much better than expected. The trade balance showed a 1.85 billion CHF surplus, a huge improvement last month’s 760 million CHF surplus.
No data coming out of Switzerland today so it’s highly likely that the market sentiment will dictate the Swissy’s price action. Good luck trading today folks!
Who needs an economic report when the demand for the franc is as strong as it was last Friday? Thanks to dollar aversion, USD/CHF plunged by 131 pips to .8088 after hitting an intraday high of .8953. Meanwhile, the euro’s rally didn’t extend to EUR/CHF as it slipped by 80 pips and ended the week at 1.2240.
Though no report was released from Switzerland last Friday, the franc benefited from a broad-based dollar aversion and apprehension on the upcoming economic meetings in the euro region. Risk appetite in markets and QE3 prospects dampened the demand for the dollar, while a few traders who weren’t convinced of the euro’s rally sought safety in the franc.
This week we’ll probably see the franc move on risk sentiment again as there are only a few reports from Switzerland due for release. On Tuesday at 6:00 am GMT we’ll get hold of the UBS consumption indicator, followed by the KOF economic barometer on Friday at 9:30 am GMT.
Though these reports usually gain the attention of some traders, the sentiments on the euro zone will most likely dominate the news wires once again this week. Still, keep a sharp eye on any report that might affect sentiment for the low-yielding franc, will ya?
The Swissy’s price action yesterday was as mixed as a bag of nuts as it gained versus the dollar but lost against the euro. By the end of the U.S. trading session, USD/CHF was 38 pips lower while EUR/CHF was 21 pips higher.
No red flags on Switzerland’s economic calendar today but I think we’ll still see quite a bit of movement from the Swissy. There are a bunch of news reports from other major economies that could have a strong impact on risk sentiment and indirectly move the Kiwi! Check out my updates on the other majors for that!
When the franc starts gaining against its counterparts the way it did yesterday, you just know there’s risk aversion in markets! USD/CHF slipped by 23 pips to .8789, while EUR/CHF also dropped by 53 pips and closed at 1.2219.
Switzerland didn’t release any economic report yesterday, but traders bought the low-yielding franc when news spread around that the economic summit in the euro region got canceled, which implied that the region’s officials are buying more time in order to reach a deal that would solve the euro zone’s debt problems.
The economic board is once again empty in Switzerland, but make sure you stick around for any news that might affect risk sentiment!
The Swiss franc can’t seem to hold on to its gains, can it? After dipping to a low of .8279 against the U.S. dollar, the franc let go of its wins as USD/CHF eventually closed at .8810. The same thing happened against the euro as EUR/CHF fell to a low of 1.2156 then rallied back up to close at 1.2251.
Switzerland didn’t release any economic reports yesterday so perhaps the Swiss franc was just feeling jittery about the goings-on in the EU summit. Last time I checked, the German parliament already gave the thumbs-up for the EFSF leveraging but there was still no clear agreement about the euro zone rescue plan.
With no reports on Switzerland’s schedule today, the Swiss franc could be in for another topsy-turvy trading day. Keep your eyes and ears peeled for any updates on the euro zone debt talks as well as any possible changes in risk sentiment. Good luck!
It was a day of pip-giving for the currencies yesterday, and, strangely enough, the franc was no exception! While USD/CHF’s 203-pip plunge to .8807 is not surprising for many, EUR/CHF also slipped by 41 pips and closed at 1.2210.
The euro might’ve gained pips across the board yesterday, but it seems that the franc bulls were just as determined to push it higher. After the European leaders reached a few agreements on solving the region’s debt, we saw risk appetite soar to the skies and boosted the high-yielding currencies. Good thing the low-yielding franc was invited to the bulls’ party!
Let’s see if the KOF economic barometer scheduled for release at 9:30 am GMT will make any difference to the franc’s price action. The data is expected to print a 1.00 reading in October from its 1.21 figure in September, but a significantly higher number might boost the franc higher in the charts.
Stay vigilant in your trades, homies!
After its stellar performance on Thursday, the Swissy decided to just chill across the board on Friday. USD/CHF, for instance, just traded sideways and bounced around a very tight 50-pip range.
The absence of economic catalysts was the reason behind the Swissy’s muted price action. There were no important economic reports released from both Switzerland and the rest of the world.
Switzerland’s economic calendar has only one red flag on it. On Tuesday, Switzerland’s retail sales report will come out. It is expected to show a 2.3% increase in sales, opposite the 1.9% decline seen the previous month. If the forecast holds, we could see the Swissy rally.
Mixed day for the franc, as it took a hit versus the pound and dollar but managed to edge higher against the euro. What gives?
Now that the Bank of Japan has intervened once again in the markets, could we see a similar move by the Swiss National Bank? Rumors were that the SNB wanted EUR/CHF at 1.2500. Now that the pair is trading below 1.2200, don’t be surprised if we start hearing some jawboning from SNB officials soon.
For today, we’ve got a couple of top tier reports coming up in the form of year-on-year retails sales figures and the SVME PMI, scheduled for release at 8:15 am and 8:30 am GMT respectively.
Retail sales growth is projected at 2.3%, which would be a major improvement from the 1.9% decline we saw last month. Meanwhile, the SVME index is expected to come in at 47.8, down from 48.2. If these reports come in worse than expected, it may cause higher yielding currencies to post some gains versus the franc.
'Twas a tough day for the Swissy as it lost to both the euro and the Greenback yesterday. USD/CHF closed 101 pips up from its .8770 open price while EUR/CHF managed to end up 4 pips above its 1.2152 open. How will these pairs fare today?
Perhaps Switzerland’s weaker than expected SVME PMI report is to blame for the Swissy’s recent losses. The index fell from 48.2 to 46.9 in October, lower than the consensus of 47.8. The marks the PMI’s second month below the 50.0 level, indicating that the manufacturing industry contracted for yet another month.
There aren’t any economic reports on Switzerland’s schedule for today, which means that Swissy pairs could take their cues from economic events in the U.S. or the euro zone. Bear in mind that the FOMC statement could have a huge impact on USD/CHF today, while updates on the Greek referendum could affect EUR/CHF greatly. Stay on your toes!
Though most Swissy pairs weren’t very active, the Swissy did manage to post small gains against its major counterparts. It rose 30 pips against the dollar while stealing a 1-pip victory away from the euro. Hey, a win is a win!
No major releases from Switzerland yesterday. Unfortunately, we’ll see more of the same today.
That being the case, it would probably be best to look to risk sentiment to drive Swissy price action. Though the SNB has been watching the Swissy closely, it’s likely that we’ll see the currency reprise its safe haven role, especially against higher-yielding currencies, should risk aversion strike the markets again.
The euro zone has its big ECB rate statement later today, and that could serve as a catalyst for a big move in EUR/CHF. Check out my commentary on the euro to read more about it!