Daily stats

The Swiss franc remained the top performer against the greenback for the third consecutive day, with a 1.33% advance against a weaker US dollar. Market sentiment seems to have improved after yesterday’s sharp sell-off, with equities moving into positive territory soon after the open. The dollar has come under extreme pressure early in North American trade with the Dow Jones Dollar Index paring all of the gains seen on the back of yesterday’s risk sell-off. Subsequently the greenback has fallen against all its major counterparts, the swissie leading the assault. However markets are likely to drift into the close as traders take to the sidelines amid thinned weekend trade. The USD/CHF pair briefly tagged the 61.8% Fibonacci retracement taken from the July 19th descent at 0.7814 where interim support now rests. A break below this level sees subsequent floors at 0.7770, 0.7730 and the 50% retracement at 0.7670. Interim resistance holds at 0.7950, backed by the 76.4% retracement at the 0.80-figure and 0.8045.

The EUR/CHF was hit particularly hard in the overnight, falling nearly 300-pips from the high, to as low as 1.1242, at the time this report was written. The pair was dragged lower by two separate forces: the decline in European equities, translating into a weaker Euro; and market participants doubting the credibility of the Swiss National Bank after it failed to levy a Franc-Euro peg, as it previously suggested it would. Now that the peg policy option is off the table in the near-term, it is likely that the EUR/CHF pair will head lower, especially as market volume picks up headed into the third quarter.