Investing.com - The dollar was higher against the Swiss franc on Friday as data on personal spending and consumer sentiment added to the view that the U.S. economic recovery is deepening.
USD/CHF hit highs of 0.9080, the strongest since January 23 and was last up 0.39% to 0.9062. For the week, the pair advanced 1.12%.
The pair is likely to find support at 0.8960 and resistance at 0.9133, the high of January 23.
Data released on Friday showed that U.S. consumer spending rose 0.4% in December, above expectations for an increase of 0.2%.
A separate report showed that the University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment index ticked down to 81.2 in January from 82.5 in December, but was better than the preliminary reading of 80.4 and forecasts for a reading of 81.0.
The reports came one day after data showed that the U.S. economy grew 3.2% in the fourth quarter, in line with expectations.
The data fuelled hopes that the recovery in the world’s largest economy could withstand reductions to the Federal Reserve’s asset purchase program and turmoil in emerging markets.
On Wednesday the Fed said it would scale back its monthly asset purchase program by another $10 billion to $65 billion, citing improvements in the labor market.
Emerging markets have been hard hit by a combination of concerns over the impact of cuts to the Fed’s stimulus program and fears over a possible slowdown in China. The Turkish lira and the South African rand tumbled after surprise rate hikes did little to shore up the currencies.
In the week ahead, investors will be keenly anticipating Friday’s U.S. nonfarm payrolls report for January after December’s report showed that the economy added far fewer jobs than expected.
Interest rate decisions by the European Central Bank, the Bank of England and the Reserve Bank of Australia will also be in focus.
Ahead of the coming week, Investing.com has compiled a list of these and other significant events likely to affect the markets.
Monday, February 3
Switzerland is to release its SVME manufacturing index.
In the U.S., the Institute of Supply Management is to produce data on manufacturing activity, a leading economic indicator.
Tuesday, February 4
The U.S. is to produce data on factory orders, a leading indicator of production.
Wednesday, February 5
The U.S. is to release the ADP report on private sector job creation, which leads the government’s nonfarm payrolls report by two days. Meanwhile, the ISM is to publish a report service sector activity.
Thursday, February 6
The U.S. is to publish the weekly report on initial jobless claims as well as data on the trade balance.
Friday, February 7
Switzerland is to publish data on retail sales, while the Swiss National Bank is to release data on foreign currency reserves. This data is closely scrutinized for indications of the size of the bank’s operations in currency markets.
The U.S. is to round up the week with the closely watched government data on nonfarm payrolls and the unemployment rate.