USD/CHF slides further below 0.9300 as panic over Credit Suisse crisis subsides
- USD/CHF comes under heavy selling pressure on Thursday and snaps a two-day winning streak.
- The positive news surrounding the Credit Suisse saga boosts the CHF and drags the pair lower.
- A softer USD also contributes to the slide, though hawkish Fed expectations could limit losses.
The USD/CHF pair attracts some sellers near the 0.9340 area on Thursday and erodes a part of the previous day's massive rally of over 220 pips - the biggest single-day rise since 2015. The pair continues drifting lower through the early European session and slides back below the 0.9300 mark, hitting a fresh daily low in the last hour.
The Swiss Franc (CHF) strengthens in reaction to a positive development surrounding the Swiss lender Credit Suisse and turns out to be a key factor dragging the USD/CHF pair lower. In fact, the troubled Swiss bank announced that it will exercise an option to borrow up to $54 billion from the Swiss National Bank (SNB) to shore up liquidity. Adding to this, Saudi National Bank's Chairman, Ammar Al Khudairy, reportedly said that panic surrounding Credit Suisse is unwarranted and that regulators are ready to plug holes when they appear.
This comes after Saudi National Bank - the largest shareholder of Credit Suisse Group AG - ruled out another call for additional liquidity on Wednesday and helps ease fears of a full-blown global banking crisis. This, in turn, dents the US Dollar's status as the global reserve currency and exerts additional downward pressure on the USD/CHF pair. That said, reviving bets for at least a 25 bps rate hike by the Federal Reserve at its upcoming meeting on March 21-22 could limit any deeper losses for the Greenback and lend some support to the major.
Nevertheless, spot prices, for now, seem to have snapped a two-day winning streak as traders now look to the US macro data for a fresh impetus. Thursday's US economic docket features the release of the usual Weekly Initial Jobless Claims, the Philly Fed Manufacturing Index, Building Permits and Housing Starts. This, along with the European Central Bank-inspired volatility - might influence the buck and the USD/CHF pair.
Technical levels to watch