USD/CHF flirting with lows near 0.9630 level

The USD/CHF pair failed to build on early up-move to 0.9670 region and drifted into negative territory during early NA session on Thursday.

Currently trading with a negative bias for the second consecutive session, the pair extended previous session's rejection slide from the 0.9700 handle and has now eroded majority of Tuesday's strong recovery gains. 

The pair's latest leg of slide since early European session could be attributed to a modest pull-back witnessed around the key US Dollar Index, which failed to preserve early recovery gains despite better-than-expected weekly jobless claims. 

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Even a slight improvement in investors' appetite for riskier assets - like equities, which tend to weigh on the Swiss Franc's safe-haven appeal, did little to lend any support with repositioning trade ahead of the much awaited Jackson Hole Symposium acting as an exclusive driver of the pair's movement on Thursday.

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Looking at the broader picture, the pair remains confined with a six-day old trading range between the 0.9700-0.9600 region. Hence, traders seemed to hold back from placing aggressive bets as the Fed Chair Janet Yellen could throw some fresh light over the Fed's near-term monetary policy outlook and would eventually help determine the pair's near-term trajectory. 

Technical levels to watch

Immediate support is pegged near 0.9615-10 zone, below which the pair is likely to drop below the 0.9600 handle and test 0.9585-80 support area. On the upside, 0.9670 level seems to have emerged as immediate resistance, above which the pair is likely to make a fresh attempt towards clearing the 0.9700 barrier and head towards testing its next major hurdle at 50-day SMA near the 0.9750-55 region.