Investing.com - The U.S. dollar edged lower against the Swiss franc on Thursday, as safe haven demand found support ahead of a Spanish debt auction later in the day amid ongoing concerns over the financial crisis in the euro zone.
USD/CHF hit 0.9512 during European morning trade, the daily low; the pair subsequently consolidated at 0.9510, shedding 0.32%.
The pair was likely to find support at 0.9464, the low of January 10 and resistance at 0.9594, the high of January 9.
Spain was due to sell up to EUR5 billion euros of government bonds maturing in 2015 and 2016, one day before Italy’s Treasury planned to auction EUR4.75 billion of five-year bonds.
The yield on Spanish 10-year bonds was at 5.36%, while the yield on 10-year Italian government bonds remained just the 7% threshold seen as unsustainable, at 7.04%.
Markets were also eyeing the European Central Bank’s policy meeting later Thursday. The ECB was expected to keep rates unchanged at 1% and to reiterate that governments in the euro zone must step up efforts to tackle the region’s debt crisis.
Earlier Thursday, Swiss Finance Minister Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf said Switzerland may not name a permanent successor to Philipp Hildebrand as central bank chairman for several months.
Hildebrand quit on Monday after failing to prove that he was not involved in a currency trade made by his wife three weeks before he oversaw the introduction of a cap on the value of the Swiss franc.
Meanwhile, the Swissie was fractionally higher against the euro with EUR/CHF edging down 0.06%, to hit 1.2114.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to release official data on retail sales and initial jobless claims.
USD/CHF hit 0.9512 during European morning trade, the daily low; the pair subsequently consolidated at 0.9510, shedding 0.32%.
The pair was likely to find support at 0.9464, the low of January 10 and resistance at 0.9594, the high of January 9.
Spain was due to sell up to EUR5 billion euros of government bonds maturing in 2015 and 2016, one day before Italy’s Treasury planned to auction EUR4.75 billion of five-year bonds.
The yield on Spanish 10-year bonds was at 5.36%, while the yield on 10-year Italian government bonds remained just the 7% threshold seen as unsustainable, at 7.04%.
Markets were also eyeing the European Central Bank’s policy meeting later Thursday. The ECB was expected to keep rates unchanged at 1% and to reiterate that governments in the euro zone must step up efforts to tackle the region’s debt crisis.
Earlier Thursday, Swiss Finance Minister Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf said Switzerland may not name a permanent successor to Philipp Hildebrand as central bank chairman for several months.
Hildebrand quit on Monday after failing to prove that he was not involved in a currency trade made by his wife three weeks before he oversaw the introduction of a cap on the value of the Swiss franc.
Meanwhile, the Swissie was fractionally higher against the euro with EUR/CHF edging down 0.06%, to hit 1.2114.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to release official data on retail sales and initial jobless claims.