USD/CHF finds barricades around 0.9200 as focus shifts to US PCE Price Index

• USD/CHF is struggling to surpass the 0.9200 resistance despite a decline in investors’ risk appetite.
• The USD Index is expected to stay offered in a 101.30-102.00 range ahead of the Fed’s policy.
• Swiss Real Retail Sales are expected to expand by 2.6% vs. -1.3% recorded earlier.

The USD/CHF pair is sensing hurdles in scaling above the immediate resistance of 0.9200 in the early Asian session. The Swiss Franc asset is attempting to build a base around 0.9200 for a subtle rebound as investors are getting anxious ahead of the release of the United States Personal Consumption Expenditure (PCE) Price Index data.

The risk appetite of the market participants has trimmed as the S&P500 futures are displaying some losses in early Asia. Optimism built from the strength shown by the 500-US stock basket on Thursday is fading now. The US Dollar Index (DXY) might look for a recovery move after dropping to near 101.40. Meanwhile, the 10-year US Treasury yields have climbed above 3.50% as investors are shifting their focus broadly towards the interest rate decision by the Federal Reserve (Fed), which is scheduled for next week.

On Friday, investors might witness a power-pack action after the release of the Fed’s preferred inflation tool. The monthly core PCE price index (Dec) is seen as unchanged at 0.2%. Apart from that Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index will remain in focus, which is also seen steady at 64.6.

Next week, the event of the monetary policy announcement by Fed chair Jerome Powell will keep the USD index in traction. In the opinion of economists at ING, US Dollar could go into next week's Fed meeting on the offered side.” They further added that “We are not sure that DXY is ready to break below support at 101.30 just yet. And we see next week's FOMC meeting as an upside risk to the Dollar. But for the time being, expect DXY to stay offered in a 101.30-102.00 range.”

On the Swiss Franc front, investors will focus on next week’s Real Retail Sales data. As per the consensus, the economic data is seen at 2.6% vs. a contraction of 1.3% reported earlier. An upbeat retail demand could trigger inflation projections. The Swiss National Bank (SNB) is still looking for a strong footing for economic recovery.