USD/CHF continues to move sideways above 0.9700 ahead of US data
- USD/CHF lost its momentum after closing last two days in positive territory.
- US Dollar Index consolidates this week's gains above 100.
- Retail Sales in the US is expected to decline by 12% in April.
The USD/CHF pair registered modest gains on Wednesday and Thursday but struggled to preserve its bullish momentum. As of writing, the pair was down 0.05% on a daily basis at 0.9725.
The greenback's market valuation this week became the primary driver of USD/CHF's movements. The risk-off environment and the FOMC members' dismissal of negative interest rates boosted the demand for the USD.
The US Dollar Index rose to its highest level in three weeks at 100.56 before starting to consolidate its gains. Although the index is staying flat on the day at 100.28 on Friday, it's still up more than 1% since the beginning of the week.
Eyes on US data
In the second half of the day, Retail Sales, Industrial Production and UoM Consumer Confidence Index data from the US will be looked upon for fresh impetus.
Previewing the Retail Sales data, “Retail Sales are forecast to decline 12% in April, half again as much as the March plunge and almost equaling the 12.4% crushing in the six months of the second half of 2008 when the financial crisis overwhelmed the US economy,” FXStreet analyst Joseph Trevisani said. “Equity, credit, and currency markets are likely to shrug off the April retail sales numbers, terrible as they will be, much as the Nonfarm Payrolls figures were ignored.”
Technical levels to watch for