USD/CHF moves upward near 0.9030 post Fed Chair Powell’s hawkish comments

• USD/CHF continues to gain ground on the likelihood of another rate hike by the Fed.
• Fed Chair Powell’s hawkish sentiment led to a surge in US Treasury yields.
• US weekly Initial Jobless Claims eased at 217K compared to the previous week’s figure of 220K.

USD/CHF extends its gains for the second consecutive session, which could be attributed to the hawkish comments from US Federal Reserve (Fed) Chair Jerome Powell at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) event on Thursday. The USD/CHF trades higher near 0.9030 during the Asian trading hours on Friday.

Switzerland’s inflation rate held steady at 1.7% in October, and the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate remained at 2.1%. Market participants will likely observe upcoming data, including the ZEW Survey – Expectations and Real Retail Sales, to gauge whether the Swiss National Bank (SNB) will consider increasing interest rates in the December meeting, with expectations leaning towards a 25 basis points hike.

Fed Chair Powell’s recognition that current policies may not be adequately restrictive to control inflation strengthens the likelihood of at least one more rate hike. This sentiment led to a surge in US Treasury yields, providing support for the US Dollar (USD). Furthermore, the US weekly Initial Jobless Claims stood at 217K, slightly below both the market forecast of 218K and the previous week’s figure of 220K, which may have contributed additional support to the Greenback.

In the absence of economic data from Switzerland, investors keep an eye on the preliminary US Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index for November and the UoM 5-year Consumer Inflation Expectation. These indicators may provide valuable insights and influence market sentiment.