The USD/CHF pair traded in a narrow range near 0.9050 in the late European session. The Swiss Franc asset has remained in the grip of bulls broadly as the Swiss National Bank (SNB) announced a steady interest rate decision on Thursday, keeping interest rates at 1.7% while investors anticipated an interest rate increase by 25 basis points (bps) to 2%. SNB Chairman Thomas J. Jordan and other policymakers decided to deliver a steady monetary policy for the first time since March 2022 when the central bank initiated its rate-tightening cycle to cool down inflationary pressures. About the interest rate outlook, the SNB left doors open for further policy tightening. SNB Jordan cited that the current inflation situation has bought us time to assess whether measures taken to date are sufficient to keep inflation comfortably below 2%.
Meanwhile, S&P500 futures generated some decent gains in the London session, portraying nominal improvement in appeal for risk-perceived assets. The US Dollar Index (DXY) demonstrates a sideways trend as uncertainty about the interest rate peak elevated after the Federal Reserve’s (Fed) hawkish outlook. The upside in the USD Index seems restricted for now as investors see no signs of a hike by the Fed in its November monetary policy. Going forward, investors will focus on preliminary PMIs for September from the S&P Global, which will be published at 13:45 GMT. According to a preliminary report, The Manufacturing PMI is seen improving marginally to 48.0 from the August reading of 47.9. The Services PMI, which tracks a sector that accounts for two-thirds of the US economy, is anticipated to rise to 50.6 from 50.5 in August.
