Swiss Franc

The Swiss franc is the top performer against the greenback mid-day in North American trade, advancing more than 2% on the session. The Swiss National Bank refrained from remarks about possible steps to stem the rapid rise of the swissie today, easing concerns of further SNB intervention. The central bank has continually disseminated rhetoric about the currency’s rise for the past three weeks, leaving traders reluctant to move on the franc. The USD/CHF pair broke below interim support in pre-market trade before finding solace just above the 76.4% Fibonacci retracement taken from the July 19th decline at the 0.80-figure. This level is likely to hold in for now as it provided strong resistance for nearly a month before breaching the extension last Friday, noting subsequent floors lower at 0.7950, the 0.79-handle, and 0.7850. The franc is unlikely to see substantial gains past this level as investors will remain cautious not to push the swissie to high too fast on concerns the SNB will step back in to curb market appetite. Topside resistance holds at the 0.81-figure, backed by 0.8150 and 0.8230. Overnight traders will be eyeing data out of Switzerland with July retail sales and the SVME- PMI report on tap.