S&P 500 — US Large Cap Index
FTSE 100 — UK Blue Chips
Euro Stoxx 50 — Eurozone Leaders
DAX 40 — German Equities
CAC 40 — French Market Index
Nikkei 225 — Japan Benchmark
Hang Seng — Hong Kong Index
Shanghai Composite — China Mainland
ASX 200 — Australian Market
TSX Composite — Canada Index
Nifty 50 — India Large Cap
STI Index — Singapore Market
KOSPI — South Korea Index
Bovespa — Brazil Equities
JSE Top 40 — South Africa Index
IPC Index — Mexico Market
- USD/CHF flattens around 0.7750 while investors await the US data.
- US private employers are expected to have hired 48K fresh workers in January.
- SNB Chairman Schlegel remains concerned over the inflation outlook.
The USD/CHF pair trades in a tight range around 0.7750 during the late Asian trading session on Wednesday. The Swiss Franc pair consolidates as investors await the United States (US) ADP Employment Change and the ISM Services Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) data for January, which will be published during the North American session.
During the press time, the US Dollar Index (DXY), which tracks the Greenback’s value against six major currencies, trades marginally lower to near 97.30.
Investors will pay close attention to the US data to get fresh cues on the Federal Reserve’s (Fed) monetary policy outlook. The US private sector is expected to have created 48K fresh jobs, slightly higher than 41K in December. The ISM Services PMI is estimated to have dropped to 53.5 from the prior reading of 54.4, indicating that the service sector activity continued to advance but at a moderate pace.
According to the CME FedWatch tool, traders seem confident that the Fed will leave interest rates unchanged in the range of 3.50%-3.75% in the March policy meeting.
Meanwhile, the Swiss Franc (CHF) shows a mixed performance while investors seek fresh cues on the Swiss National Bank’s (SNB) monetary policy outlook. The SNB is likely to hold interest rates at 0% in the near term as they remain concerned over soft inflationary pressures. On Monday, SNB Chairman Martin Schelegl said, “My greatest concern is of course inflation and price stability, and we [SNB] do everything we can to ensure that,” Reuters reported.
