Dollar Hits New Highs vs Franc as SNB Clears the Path for Carry

USD/CHF rallied 0.5% on Thursday to fresh 16-month highs, trading within 10 pips of 0.8300 as the U.S. Dollar gained broadly across the board. Markets appear to have gotten ahead of themselves on Monday when they flushed out geopolitical risk premium. Oil has continued to bounce back as talks on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly yielded little progress on the Iran conflict. The 10-year Treasury yield is holding near 5.11%, its highest level since 2007, after Wednesday's surge on the back of September PMI data. The Trump-Xi summit in Washington has likewise produced nothing material, leaving markets that had leaned toward a constructive outcome with less to show for it. Rate futures now price roughly a 70% chance of another Fed hike in October, and oil and yields remain firmly in command of where capital is being allocated.

The Swiss National Bank did little to push back against that current. The SNB held its policy rate at 0% for a fifth consecutive meeting. It dropped the heightened intervention language adopted earlier this year and returned to its standard commitment to be active in FX markets as necessary. That shift reflects a franc that has already weakened, not a hawkish pivot. Inflation forecasts were nudged higher through 2028 on elevated oil costs and the softer currency, yet the SNB's conditional forecast still assumes a 0% policy rate over the entire horizon. Chairman Martin Schlegel went as far as acknowledging that low Swiss rates add to the franc's appeal as a carry trade funding currency. The Fed lifted rates to 3.75-4.00% last week and may not be finished, so the message from Zurich was that the SNB is not standing in the way of a widening rate differential.

USD/CHF Daily Price History

In the above chart, USD/CHF has pushed back through the highs set last week, fully recovering the subsequent pullback after that initial breakout attempt failed. The pair is now clear of all its daily moving averages, but traders should be firm in their time horizons when weighing whether this is a stretched market or a genuine break from the 16-month lull. That range has defined price action since the post-Liberation Day selloff took USD/CHF from 0.8800 to near 0.8000. A retracement toward 0.8250 would offer the first test of whether former resistance has turned into support. A hold there would strengthen the breakout case. A drop back below would suggest today's move was a one-day exaggeration of Treasury and rate pricing, one that could unwind if the geopolitical and inflation outlook calms.

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