Forex Pros – The U.S. dollar was up against the Swiss franc on Thursday, as oil prices retreated below USD105 a barrel, but the greenbacks gains were capped as unexpectedly weak Chinese trade data weighed on sentiment.
USD/CHF hit 0.9348 during European morning trade, the daily high; the pair subsequently consolidated at 0.9331, gaining 0.39%.
The pair was likely to find support at 0.9260, Tuesday’s low and short-term resistance at 0.9368, Wednesday’s high.
Crude futures for delivery in April were trading at USD103.97 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, after peaking at USD105.04 earlier in the day.
Earlier in the day, government data showed that China unexpectedly posted a trade deficit of USD7.3 billion in February, it’s largest in seven years, as the Lunar New Year holiday disrupted export activity.
China’s imports rose at an annualized rate of 19.4% in February, below the 32.8% consensus, while exports rose 2.4%, far below the expected 25.9%.
The surprisingly weak data sparked concerns over a slowdown in the world’s largest economy.
Meanwhile, the Swissie was up against the euro, with EUR/CHF slipping 0.10% to hit 1.2915.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to publish a key weekly report on initial jobless claims as well as data on the country’s trade balance.
ForexPros.com
