Talking Points:
- Swiss KOF economic index stays at 102.0 in December.
- Weak figure breathes new life into USDCHF.
- Euro also gains on Swiss Franc.
- See the DailyFX Economic Calendar and see what live coverage for key event risk impacting FX markets is scheduled for next week on the DailyFX Webinar Calendar.
Unpromising Swiss KOF Economic Barometer numbers released Friday have weighed on Swiss Franc sentiment, helping to boost the recovery in USDCHF.
The index from KOF, an economic institute, remained at 102.0 in December. That was no disaster: a sideways trend indicates that the Swiss economy should grow at rates close to its long-term average in the near future.
But markets had expected a rise in sentiment to 103.1, which was enough to breathe new life into USDCHF. The pair had briefly touched a six-year high of 1.0328 last week after the hawkish December FOMC meeting in the US finally sent it above a long-term resistance level at 1.0176. That push quickly met further resistance but now the pair is on the march once again, currently trading at 1.0264.
The Euro is also making gains on the Swiss Franc in early Friday trading. EURCHF has risen 0.1% to 1.0716. But this might have more to do with the single currency gaining across the board on the news of Italian bank Monte dei Paschi’s successful bailout plan.
The Franc is likely remain weak against the Euro. Last week, the Swiss National Bank once again left all its key monetary policy levers on hold and said it would continue its efforts to prevent the Franc, which it said is still significantly overvalued, from strengthening against the Euro in the foreign exchanges.
USDCHF 15-minute chart (December 23)
--- Written by Oliver Morrison, Analyst
To contact Oliver, email him at oliver.morrison@ig.com
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