USD/CHF continues to consolidate in tight range below 0.9700

• US Dollar Index posts modest gains on Thursday.
• Major European equity indexes trade with small gains. 
• Eyes on weekly Initial Jobless Claims data from US.

The USD/CHF pair is having a difficult time determining its next direction as it continues to move sideways in a very tight range on Thursday after posting modest gains in the previous three days. As of writing, the pair was up 0.17% on the day at 0.9670.

Last week, the broad-based selling pressure surrounding the USD caused the pair to erase more than 300 pips. The pair's bullish action during the first half of the week seems to be a technical correction of this drop. Meanwhile, major European equity indexes are posting modest recovery gains on Thursday to make it difficult for the CHF to find demand as a safe-haven. 

Focus shifts to US Jobless Claims

In the second half of the day, the weekly Initial Jobless Claims data from the US will be looked upon for fresh impetus. The US Dollar Index, which tracks the greenback's performance against a basket of six major currencies, stays calm above the 99.50 mark to allow the pair to remain in its daily range. 

Last week, the Department of Labor reported that more than 3 million people applied for unemployment benefits amid lockdowns due to the coronavirus outbreak. 

Previewing the data, “today’s release is actually more important than tomorrow’s jobs report for March, as the end of the survey period for that came before the spike in jobless claims we saw last week," noted Deutsche Bank analysts. "It won’t be as up-to-date on the current economic situation as jobless claims are.”

Technical levels to watch for