USD/CHF moves little as traders adopt caution ahead of Swiss Consumer Price Index data.
SNB officials indicated that interest rates could be pushed into negative territory if downside risks continue to build.
Traders expect the US Nonfarm Payrolls to increase by 110K in June, against 139K jobs added in May.
USD/CHF retraces its recent gains registered in the previous session, trading around 0.7920 during the Asian hours on Thursday. The pair maintains its position around 0.7872, the lowest since September 2011, recorded on July 1. Traders await Swiss Consumer Price Index (CPI) data to gain further impetus on the Swiss National Bank’s (SNB) policy outlook, due later in the day.
The Swiss National Bank’s (SNB) officials suggested that both negative rates and currency interventions remain on the table. In June, the SNB cut rates to 0% to address easing inflationary pressures and indicated it could push rates into negative territory if downside risks persist.
The Swiss Federal Statistical Office reported on Wednesday that Real Retail Sales remained flat at 0% year-over-year in May, falling short of market expectations of 0.8% and coming in below the previous 0.9% growth. Moreover, the SVME Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) improved to 49.6 in June from 42.1 in May. The reading significantly surpassed market expectations of 44.0; however, the index remained below the 50-point expansion level for the 30th consecutive month.
The downside of the USD/CHF pair could be restrained as the US Dollar (USD) extends its gains for the second successive session. The US Dollar Index (DXY), which measures the value of the Greenback against six major currencies, is trading at around 96.80 at the time of writing.
Traders await highly anticipated labor market data, including US Nonfarm Payrolls (NFP) and Average Hourly Earnings, due later in the day. Moreover, ISM Services PMI and S&P Global US PMI will also be eyed on Thursday.
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