USD/CHF stays in range above 0.99 ahead of US housing data
- US Dollar Index recovers toward mid-96s on Tuesday.
- Risk-aversion allows CHF to stay resilient.
- Coming up: US building permits and housing starts data.
After closing the first day of the week with a 75-pip loss, the USD/CHF pair struggles to find direction on Tuesday and trades in a relatively tight range above the 0.99 mark. As of writing, the pair was at 0.9920, losing 15 pips on the day.
Although the greenback finds demand and gathers strength on Tuesday as the uncertainty surrounding the Brexit deal and concerns over the Italian budget crisis weigh on its European rivals, the CHF stays resilient and doesn't allow the pair to gain traction. The dominant risk-off mood as reflected by the sharp fall witnessed in European equity indexes helps the CHF preserve its strength. At the moment, both the Euro Stoxx 50 and German DAX 30 indexes are losing over 1%.
Later in the session, housing starts and building permits data will be released from the U.S. However, investors are likely to pay close attention to Wall Street, which seems to be set to open the day in the negative territory. Ahead of the data, the US Dollar Index is up 0.2% on the day at 96.35.
Technical levels to consider
The pair could face the first support at 0.9875 (100-DMA/200-DMA) ahead of 0.9800 (Sep. 30 low) and 0.9740 (Sep. 28 low). On the upside, resistances align at 1.0000 (psychological level/parity), 1.0030 (20-DMA) and 1.0085 (nov. 16 low).