USD/CHF consolidates daily gains post-US data, holds above 0.97

After touching its daily peak at 0.9760 in the early European session, the USD/CHF pair struggled to preserve its bullish momentum and was last seen trading at 0.9736, still gaining 0.15% on the day.

Since the beginning of the week, the pair's price action continues to be dominated by the USD strength. Following a modest rise to its best level since August 25 at 93.50, the US Dollar Index went into a consolidation phase and turned negative on the day. At the moment, the index is at 93.11, losing 0.17% on the day.

Today's mixed macro data from the U.S. failed to provide the buck with the fuel it needed to start another leg up. Initial weekly jobless claims increased by 12K to 272K for the week ending September 22 and missed the market expectation of 270K. On the other hand, the preliminary real GDP growth for the second quarter edged higher to 3.1% from 3% while the international trade deficit eased to $62.9 billion from $65 billion on a monthly basis in August, coming in better than the market estimate of $65 billion.

Wİth today's data out of the way, investors will be following Kansas City Fed President Esther George's and the FOMC Board member Stanley Fischer's speeches for fresh clues regarding another 25 basis points rate hike in December.

Technical outlook

The RSI indicator on the H4 chart for the pair retreated to 50 handle, suggesting that the near-term bullish momentum is fading. The first hurdle for the pair could be seen at 0.9800 (psychological level/May 29 high) ahead of 0.9850 (May 17 high) and 0.9935 (Apr. 23 high). On the downside, supports align at 0.9700 (psychological level/Sep. 27 low), 0.9635 (100-DMA/50-DMA) and 0.9565 (Sep. 15 low).

Today's data from the U.S.

• US: Weekly initial claims was 272,000, an increase of 12,000 from previous week
• US: Real GDP increased at an annual rate of 3.1% in the second quarter of 2017
• US: International trade deficit was $62.9 bln in Aug, down $0.9 bln from $63.9 bln in July
• US: Wholesale inventories for Aug were estimated at $608.4 bln, up 1.0% from July 2017