USD/CHF in search of a firm near-term direction

Following yesterday's upsurge to fresh 9-month peak, the USD/CHF pair moved back to 7-day old trading range amid broad based greenback retracement.

Currently trading with negative bias around mid-1.0100s, the pair extended its near-term consolidation phase, albeit made a failed attempt to break through 1.0200 handle on Wednesday. Expectation of aggressive fiscal spending by Trump administration continues to boost investor confidence for a stronger US economic growth going forward. Moreover, the incoming data, including Wednesday's ADP report on US private sector employment, has been pointing to sustainable economic recovery and has been fueling expectations of faster Fed rate-hike actions in 2017. 

However, given the pair's strong post-US election up-surge of more than 650-pips, traders seem to have turned cautious and adopt 'wait and watch' stance ahead of Friday's monthly jobs report from the US (NFP).  In the meantime, today's US economic calendar featuring the release of weekly jobless claims and ISM manufacturing PMI might provide some impetus for short-term traders.

Technical levels to watch

Immediate support is seen at 1.0125 below which the pair is likely to break through 1.0100 handle and aim towards testing weekly lows support near 1.0080 level. On the upside, momentum above 1.0175 (session peak) is likely to accelerate the move immediately towards 1.0200 handle above which the pair seems to head towards yearly high resistance near 1.0250-55 region.