USD/CHF sell-off resumes after strong Swiss inflation numbers
The data showed that the producer price index rose by 1.8% year-on-year in April. The pair will react to the upcoming FOMC minutes that will come out on Wednesday.
The USD/CHF price retreated on Monday after the relatively stronger Swiss producer price index (PPI) data. The pair declined to 0.9005, which was the lowest level since Thursday last week.
USD/CHF price action
Swiss inflation rising
The USD/CHF is declining after data by the Swiss Federal Statistics agency showed that the country’s PPI rose in April as the recovery process accelerates. The headline PPI rose from 0.6% in March to 0.7% in April. This increase led the year-on-year increase to 1.8% after declining by 0.2% in the previous month.
Swiss Jobless Rate Declines In April
BRUSSELS (dpa-AFX) - Switzerland s jobless rate decreased in April, data from the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs showed on Friday.
The jobless rate fell a seasonally to 3.1 percent in April from 3.3 percent in March. Economists had expected a rate of 3.3 percent.
On an unadjusted basis, the unemployment rate fell to 3.3 percent in April from 3.4 percent in the previous month. This was in line with economists expectation.
The number of registered unemployed declined to 151,279 in April from 157,968 in the preceding month.
The unemployment rate among the youth aged between 15 and 24, decreased to 2.7 percent in April from 3.0 percent in the prior month.
European Markets Close Higher On Strong Earnings, Recovery Hopes
BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - European markets closed on a firm note on Friday, buoyed by some upbeat earnings announcements and eurozone economic data.
U.S. jobs data disappointed as the economy added less jobs than expected, and unemployment rose, but then, the weak data helped raise hopes that the Fed will continue to keep rates near zero for the foreseeable future.
The pan European Stoxx 600 climbed 0.89%. The U.K. s FTSE 100 gained 0.76%, Germany s DAX advanced 1.34% and France s CAC 40 ended 0.45% up, while Switzerland s SMI gained 0.56%.
Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Spain, Sweden and Turkey closed with strong gains.
Swiss Market Ends On Firm Note
Data showing a drop in Swiss unemployment in April aided sentiment.
The benchmark SMI, faltered and briefly slipped into negative territory after a positive start, but recovered well and eventually ended with a gain of 62.47 points or 0.56% at 11,173.57, the day s high.
Alcon shares gained 2.75%. Swatch Group climbed 2.3%, while Partners Group, Zurich Insurance Group, Roche Holding and Swiss Life Holding gained 1.2 to 1.4%.
Richemont ended nearly 1% up, while SGS, Sika, Swiss Re, Novartis and Lonza Group gained 0.5 to 0.8%.
LafargeHolcim ended lower by about 3.4%. Credit Suisse and Swisscom posted modest losses.
Among the stocks in the Mid Price Index, Logitech rallied 3.3%. VAT Group, AMS, Tecan Group and SIG Combibloc gained 2 to 2.8%, while Sonova, Temenos Group, Adecco, BB Biotech, Georg Fischer and Helvetia moved up 1.4 to 1.9%.
Sharp Slowdown In U.S. Job Growth Drags Dollar Down The U.S. dollar depreciated against its key counterparts in the European session on Friday, as the nation’s employment increased much less than expected in April, backing hopes for a continuation of the accommodative policy by the Federal Reserve.
Data from the Labor Department showed that non-farm payroll employment rose by 266,000 jobs in April after surging by a downwardly revised 770,000 jobs in March.
Economists had expected employment to spike by 978,000 jobs compared to the jump of 916,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.
The report also showed the unemployment rate inched up to 6.1 percent in April from 6.0 percent in March. Economists had expected the unemployment rate to drop to 5.8 percent.