Forex Safe Havens Continue To Trend: USD/CHF In Focus

It is another strong open for the U.S. indices, with the DJIA up over 150 points and S&P 500 gaining 16. Fundamentals appear to be on the back burner, as bullish sentiment toward stocks has prevailed in the face of mixed economic numbers. The USD has born the brunt of the bad news, falling across the forex majors.

This morning’s U.S. employment numbers showed a rise in Continuing Jobless Claims and stagnate Initial Jobless Claims. Manufacturing indices came in mixed, while Industrial Production for January underperformed.

All in all, this was not a strong group of metrics. The result has been a run to the forex safe-havens.

USD/CHF Technicals

Market fundamentals have not been kind to Tuesday’s trading plan for the USD/CHF. Only a 10 pip positive move has been realized since entry and price is grinding south.

For now, the trade recommendation from Tuesday is live and in the red by 15 pips. While it is too soon to determine a winner or loser, the weakness being exhibited by the USD against many of the majors is not a good sign.

Here are the downside levels to watch for the remainder of the session:

• Support(1): Quarter-handle, .9225
• Support(2): Psyche level, .9200

Bottom Line: Today’s economic releases have not done the USD any favors, illustrated by considerable losses against the CHF and JPY. Without a catalyst for bullish participation, pulling out a gain on the long position in the USD/CHF is going to be a challenge.

As of this writing, price is rotating near .9240. In the event that the stop at .9209 is not taken out today, posting gains before week’s end is a possibility. Either way, if you are live in Tuesday’s trade recommendation, be sure to at least move your stop loss to 1 pip beneath today’s low at the close. With a bit of luck, it will remain the current intraday low at .9227.