USD/CHF turns sideways around 0.9550 ahead of US NFP

• USD/CHF is oscillating in an 11-pip range as investors await US NFP data.
• A 200k consensus for the US NFP could drag the asset further.
• The DXY has failed to capitalize on hawkish commentary from the Fed policymaker.

The USD/CHF pair is displaying back and forth moves in a narrow range of 0.9543-0.9554 in the early Tokyo session. The asset has turned lackluster as investors are focusing on the release of the US Nonfarm Payrolls (NFP). On Thursday, the asset witnessed a steep fall after surrendering the crucial support of 0.9600 and printed a low of 0.9543.

Economists at JP Morgan predict the US Nonfarm Payrolls (NFP) to come in weaker at 200K in July’s labor market report. In the month of June, the US economy added 372k jobs in the labor market. Rising interest rates and their multiplier effects have trimmed the job opportunities in the market. Well, the Unemployment Rate is seen unchanged at 3.6%.

The corporate players have inculcated more filters in the selection of investment opportunities due to the unavailability of the cheap dollar. So lower investment planning by the firms is resulting in lower job creation. It is worth noting that various firms in their quarterly earnings commentary have hinted announced that they have halted their recruitment process for the rest of CY2022.

Meanwhile, the US dollar index (DXY) has surrendered the crucial support of 106.00. The asset is hinting at a subdued movement ahead despite the higher targets for interest rates by Federal Reserve (Fed) policymakers. Cleveland Fed President Loretta J. Mester is seeing interest rates above 4% as halting the policy tightening program without finding a slowdown in the inflation rate for months is not feasible.

On the Swiss franc front, the inflation rate has remained in line with the prior release of 3.5%. However, investors were expecting an improvement to 3.5%. Well, this doesn’t trim the odds of a rate hike by the Swiss National Bank (SNB) ahead, but hawkish guidance could get mild.