USD/CHF looks to close week above parity despite today's sharp fall
- US Dollar Index steadies near mid-96s.
- Wall Street trades mixed in the last session of the week.
After touching a fresh daily high at 1.0086, the USD/CHF erased its daily gains in the early NA session and extended its slide toward the critical parity mark. However, with markets quieting down toward the end of the week, the pair started to move sideways in a tight range and was last seen down 0.55% on the day at 1.0010.
Comments from Fed officials on Friday put the greenback under a heavy selling pressure. Both Dallas Fed President Kaplan and Fed Vice Chair Clarida sounded concerned about the potential negative impact of the global economic slowdown on the U.S. economy and said the Fed's policy outlook should take that into consideration. Furthermore, a more than 1% drop witnessed in the 10-year U.S. T-bond yield dragged the dollar lower against its peers. At the moment, the DXY is down 0.6% on the day at 96.50.
In the meantime, major equity indexes in the U.S. trade mixed and point to a neutral market sentiment, which helps the pair limit its losses. As of writing, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was recording modest gains and the Nasdaq Composite Index was down around 0.8%.
Technical levels to consider
The initial support aligns at 1.000 (psychological level/parity) ahead of 0.9920 (50-DMA) and 0.9870 (200-DMA). On the upside, resistances are located 1.0035 (20-DMA), 1.0085 (daily high) and 1.0130 (Nov. 13 high).