USD/CHF consolidates around 0.8800, investors await US, Swiss GDP data

• USD/CHF trades sideways near the 0.8800 mark in Tuesday’s early European session. 
• The FOMC minutes indicated that policymakers were worried about moving too fast to cut their rate and preferred to wait for more data. 
• The markets expect the SNB to start rate cuts in September, even though the recent inflation data might speed up the timeline. 

The USD/CHF pair consolidates in a narrow trading range during the early European session on Tuesday. Investors seem to prefer to wait on the sidelines ahead of key events from the US and Swiss dockets. Meanwhile, the decline of the US Dollar (USD) weighs on the pair. At press time, USD/CHF is trading at 0.8798, adding 0.02% on the day. 

Several Federal Reserve (Fed) officials expressed concern that strong growth in spending and hiring could disrupt that progress to bring inflation down to the 2% target. The FOMC meeting minutes last week indicated that the central bank was also worried about moving too fast to cut their benchmark interest rate and preferred to wait for additional evidence of inflation data before making the decision on easing policy. Investors will take more cues from the Core Personal Consumption Expenditures Price Index (Core PCE), the Fed's preferred inflation gauge, due on Thursday. The stronger-than-expected data might support the case for keeping the rate high for longer and this might lift the US Dollar (USD). 

On the Swiss front, Swiss National Bank (SNB) President Thomas Jordan said that while inflation wouldn’t exceed the central bank’s target between 0 and 2%, he still sees it approaching the range’s ceiling. The markets expect the SNB to begin rate cuts in September, even though the recent Swiss inflation data might speed up that schedule. 

Apart from this, Yemen’s Iranian-backed Houthi movement has attacked merchant ships for months, proclaiming solidarity with Palestinians as Israel wages war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. That being said, the escalating geopolitical tensions in the Middle East might boost the traditional safe-haven currency like the Swiss Franc (CHF).

Looking ahead, the release of the US Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for Q4 will be the highlight on Wednesday. On Thursday, the attention will shift to the Swiss Q4 GDP growth numbers and the US Core PCE. These events could give a clear direction to the USD/CHF pair.