Daily Economic Commentary: Switzerland

Aaah, there’s nothing like good ol’ positive data to get the franc cruisin’ into the bulls’ turf. It scored a 10-pip gain against the dollar to open up the week, with USD/CHF closing at .9355.

The retail sales report for May topped expectations when it came in at 3.3%. Analysts were only bracing a more modest uptick of 2.5%. Meanwhile, Switzerland’s unemployment rate came in just as expected at 3.2%.

No reports are due for the Swiss franc today. So be careful, ayt? Market sentiment will most likely dictate its fate in today’s trading.

Despite the lack of economic data, the Swiss franc was still able to trend higher yesterday. The currency managed to rally 86 pips versus the dollar and 59 pips against the euro.

With the both the euro and the dollar having serious macroeconomic issues, traders seem to prefer putting their money in the Swissy. No major economic data is scheduled to be published in Switzerland today, but Germany is supposed to release its ruling on the constitutionality of the ECB’s OMT program.

Most market participants expect a positive verdict, but keep tabs on the event nonetheless. It event could have a strong indirect effect on the Swissy if things do not go as expected.
Since there’s no major economic catalyst scheduled to be released today to reverse the overall trthe

The Swiss franc managed to post some respectable gains yesterday, thanks to the Wolfgang Schäuble’s comment that the ECB’s bond-buying program is completely legal. USD/CHF began the day at .9248 and then closed the U.S. trading session at .9210.

Only one piece of data on Switzerland’s forex calendar today. At 8:15 am GMT, Switzerland’s Producer Price Index (PPI) will be published. It’s anticipated to print a reading of 0.1%, which is slightly lower than the 0.2% gain seen the previous month.

Normally, a falling reading is considered negative for the domestic currency as it indicates that inflation is tapering down, which, in turn, could lead to lower interest rates.

Aww, snap! It looks like the franc’s winning streak ends at three. Yesterday, USD/CHF finished higher for the first time this week. The pair started off at .9210, dropped to as low as .9130 only to bounce back and finish the day at .9221.

But don’t fret. Some market junkies say that the franc’s loss could be nothing more than just profit-taking. I dunno though. I don’t want to jump to any conclusions yet.

If you’re looking to trade the currency today, be on your toes for any shift in market sentiment. Keep in mind that the franc tends to do well when risk appetite is up. Good luck!

Double dojis! USD/CHF traded sideways for the most part of Friday’s trading, end the New York session almost unchanged and forming another doji! The pair opened at .9221 and closed at .9213. Will the pair continue to find support at .9200 today?

Without any catalyst scheduled, it just might! Our forex calendar didn’t really have much in terms of economic data last Friday and so, we could see a similar price action in today’s trading too.

But that’s just me! Keep tabs on the pair. Who knows, we might get a surprise in today’s trading that could spark some volatility on the charts!

If you’re a range trader, then you probably would’ve loved how the Swissy moved yesterday. USD/CHF merely found itself trading within a relatively tight 60-pip range with support at .9211 and resistance at .9272. USD/CHF started the day at .9213 and then ended at .9220.

No major economic data was released yesterday from Switzerland and we won’t be seeing anything again today. This means that the G-8 meetings will be on focus as finance ministers discuss how their monetary policies have been affecting the currency markets.

Normally, the meetings do not have a big impact on price action, but if they start showing disapproval towards the BOJ’s quantitative easing actions, we could see a lot of volatility in the charts! Just be careful for any surprise catalysts today!

With no data out from Switzerland, the franc’s price action depended on its counterparts. USD/CHF slipped by 22 pips while EUR/CHF popped up by 61 pips. What gives?

Yesterday the Greenback gained some ground against its counterparts, which probably explains why USD/CHF had popped up to a high of .9264. On the other hand, positive news from the euro zone boosted the common currency, enough to push EUR/CHF higher in the charts.

Only Switzerland’s own ZEW economic expectations report at 9:00 am GMT is scheduled for today. This means that you have to keep an eye out for any news that might affect the demand for the low-yielding currencies!

Swissy sellers were in absolute control of the currency yesterday, as both USD/CHF and EUR/CHF ended the day higher. Against the dollar, it gave up 99 pips. Meanwhile, it lost 23 pips to the euro.

The ZEW economic expectations report did little to affect the markets, as traders were patiently waiting for the FOMC statement before committing to a position. According to the index, investor confidence was unchanged in June. Once again, a reading of 2.2 was printed.

Today, Switzerland has something big in store for us traders as it’s expected to publish the SNB financial stability report at 5:30 am GMT. This report might give us an early clue on how the SNB quarterly monetary policy assessment (scheduled at 8:30 am GMT) will turn out.

Will the SNB continue defending the franc? Will it raise the floor on EUR/CHF? Y’all will have to tune in to find out!

Talk about turning the tables! Buyers seized control of the Swissy yesterday, as they took USD/CHF 20 pips lower while dragging EUR/CHF down by 86 pips.

The SNB monetary policy assessment didn’t really offer the markets anything new. Not only did the central bank keep its benchmark interest rate at 0% to 0.25%, but it also reiterated that it plans to keep the EUR/CHF cap at 1.2000. That’s old news, bro! In fact, all 22 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg saw that coming.

Though the SNB claims that the Swissy is still trading at “high” levels, it hasn’t done anything new about it, and it didn’t signal any further moves either. This might have been one of the reasons why the Swissy gained some ground yesterday.

Looking ahead, we don’t have any more Swiss reports to work with, so y’all might wanna check out our economic calendar to see what the euro zone has to offer if you’re looking for news to trade.

Daniel Powter’s “Bad Day” must be on loop for the Swissy, as the currency chalked up another day in losses against the Greenback. USD/CHF jumped above the .9300 major psychological resistance and ended the week at .9368.

The lack of data from Switzerland left the franc helpless against U.S. dollar strength last Friday. Although there were no actual reports released from the U.S., the Fed’s recent announcement regarding their stimulus reduction plan continued to boost the dollar against its major counterparts.

For today, there are no reports on Switzerland’s schedule, which means that the franc might be vulnerable to dollar movement once more. In fact, there are no major releases on Switzerland’s agenda for most of the week until Friday, when the KOF economic barometer will be reported. An improvement from 1.10 to 1.21 is expected for June, which would reflect brighter prospects for the Swiss economy for the next six months.

With that, be mindful of market sentiment and dollar behavior for the entire week, as these could determine where USD/CHF might be headed!

The Swiss franc sure kicked the dollar’s butt in yesterday’s trading. USD/CHF traded lower after opening at .9367. The pair went to as low at .9313 before closing at .9331.

We saw a bit of profit-taking at the start of the week after the strong dollar rally we saw last week. The question now is, how long will it last?

No economic reports will be released from Switzerland for today but there are a couple of data on tap from the U.S. Keep tabs on them as they could dictate the price action on USD/CHF. Good luck!

The franc got the short end of the stick against the Greenback and the euro in yesterday’s trading. USD/CHF jumped by 41 pips while EUR/CHF also inched 31 pips higher.

Switzerland’s data cupboard was empty yesterday, but franc traders willingly traded the currency based on its counterparts’ price action. Positive U.S. reports boosted USD/CHF, while a slight improvement in risk appetite propped up EUR/CHF.

Switzerland’s data on deck today only features the UBS consumption indicator out at 6:00 am GMT. The report doesn’t usually have a lasting impact on the franc’s price action, so you might want to consider day trades if you’re planning to trade this report.

Good luck!

For the second straight day, the Swiss franc suffered a bitter defeat versus the U.S. dollar. USD/CHF began the day at .9372 but closed notably higher at .9429.

Only the UBS Consumption Indicator for the month of May was published yesterday. It printed a reading of 1.46, which was an improvement from April’s revised down figure of 1.43.

Switzerland’s economic docket is pretty light today as only the Swiss National Bank (SNB)'s quarterly report will be published. It’s set to come out at 1:00 pm GMT and it will give us an inside look as to the bank’s assessment of the economy. Don’t expect it to produce a lot of volatility though, as much of the information that will be presented has already been revealed two weeks earlier in the monetary policy assessment of the SNB.

Quite a topsy turvy day for the franc, as USD/CHF jumped to a high of .9488 before pulling back down and consolidating around .9450. EUR/CHF was able to stage a strong rally from a low of 1.2259 to a high of 1.2338 before moving sideways for the rest of the U.S. session.

The only report released from Switzerland yesterday was the SNB quarterly bulletin, which simply reiterated the central bank’s views on the economy and monetary policy stated in their recent interest rate decision. In addition, the report mentioned the persistent risks to the Swiss economy, which includes weak global momentum and uncertainties surrounding euro zone’s debt crisis.

Switzerland is set to print its KOF economic barometer today and possibly show an increase from 1.10 to 1.21, reflecting an improvement among several key economic indicators. If the actual figure meets or beats expectations, it would suggest a positive outlook for the Swiss economy for the next six months. With that, a better than expected figure could allow the Swissy to rebound so y’all better keep an eye out for the actual release at 8:00 am GMT!

Relatively mixed day for the franc, as it remained steady versus the dollar, but gained against the pound and Canadian dollar. What could be in store for us this week?

The only report released last Friday was the KOF economic barometer, which printed a reading of 1.16. While this came up short of the expected score of 1.21, it still marked an improvement from the 1.09 reading from last month.

For today, the SVME PMI report will be available at 7:30 am GMT. Word on the street is that the index improved marginally from 52.2 to 52.5. Unless this comes in drastically better or worse than expected though, I just don’t see it having too much of an impact on Swissy trading today.

USD/CHF seems to be drawn to the .9450 minor psychological level like a moth to a flame! The pair started the day by consolidating around this level before spiking to a high of .9504 then falling right back down to the .9450 area.

Switzerland’s SVME PMI came in weaker than expected for June, as the figure slipped from 52.2 to 51.9 instead of rising to 52.5. This shows that the expansion in the Swiss manufacturing industry slowed down last month, causing the Swiss franc to sell off. However, the U.S. ISM manufacturing PMI was unimpressive and this lead to a dollar selloff later on.

There are no reports due from Switzerland today, which suggests that USD/CHF’s movement could be dependent on U.S. economic events. Stay on your toes!

The franc played a game of Simon Says with its counterparts yesterday as it danced to the tune of their price action. USD/CHF bowed to overall dollar strength, while EUR/CHF showed the broad euro weakness.

No data from Switzerland yesterday, so the franc merely danced to the tune of the dollar and euro’s price action. As I mentioned in my USD piece, the dollar ruled its counterparts thanks to positive data. Meanwhile, concerns for Greece’s bailout payments weighed heavily on the common currency.

Will the franc get more action today? If it does, it won’t be from Switzerland’s reports. Instead, keep an eye out for any major news that might affect the appetite for the low-yielding franc!

Finally! After days and days of losing, the franc showed signs of life in yesterday’s trading! USD/CHF closed lower for the first time in seven days, finishing the day 39 pips below its opening price at .9471.

No reports were released from Switzerland. Consequently, this has led a few market junkies to speculate that the franc’s performance yesterday could’ve been nothing more than just profit taking ahead of the 4th of July holiday and the NFP report (due this coming Friday).

So if you plan on trading the currency, be sure you keep a close eye on it, okay?

Despite the absence of data from Switzerland, the Swissy still found itself on the back foot of the U.S. dollar. The USD/CHF pair began the day at .9471 and ended the U.S. trading session at .9567.

The Swissy sold-off not because of events occurring internally, but rather because of the developments in the euro zone. The ECB, for the first time, stated that interest rates could either remain the same or brought lower over the next 6 to 12 months given the weakness found in the European economy.

Inflation data for the month of June from Switzerland will be released today. It’s going to publish at 7:15 pm GMT and is anticipated to show a -0.1% month-on-month rate. It was at 0.1% the month prior.

The upside surprise from the Swiss CPI did little to boost the franc against the dollar, as USD/CHF posted its fifth straight green candlestick in six days. Will go for a sixth today?

It seems as though consumer prices in Switzerland are finally on the rise! Analysts had expected prices to drop by 0.1% from May to June, but instead, prices increased by 0.1%. This marks the second straight month of gains for the country, which has been struggling with deflation.

This week, the economic calendar is light for Switzerland, as we only have the unemployment rate and retail sales data scheduled for release. The unemployment rate is expected to remain steady at a lowly 3.2% and is due at 5:45 am GMT today. Meanwhile, the retail sales report is slated to post a 3.7% surge year on year and will be available tomorrow at 7:15 am GMT.