Swiss franc unchanged against the US dollar after positive Swiss manufacturing PMI

The franc was almost without change versus the US dollar on Monday, following the release of optimistic Swiss PMI data and amid uncertainty about the future moves by the Federal Reserve Bank.

USD/CHF hit a session high at 0.9460 at 7:08 GMT, after which consolidation followed at 0.9450. Support was expected at June 28th low, 0.9427, while resistance was to be met at June 5th high, 0.9494.

Earlier on Monday it was reported that SVME (Schweizerischer Verband für Materialwirtschaft und Einkauf) Purchasing Managers Index declined to 51.9 in June from 52.2 in May. Experts had projected that the index will show a reading of 52.5.

In the mean time, US dollar was receiving ongoing support as a result of expectations that the Federal Reserve Bank will soon begin to scale back its Quantitative Easing. Market players were also looking forward to Friday’s non-farm payrolls report. Additionally, later on Monday the ISM was to release information on US manufacturing activity.

Swiss franc moved to lower levels against the euro, as EUR/CHF increased by 0.37% to 1.2337. It became clear that Unemployment rate in the Euro zone reached a new record level in May, 12.1%, after rates during February, March and April were revised down by Eurostat. On a monthly basis, in May unemployed people were 67 000 more, 55 000 more in April and 11 000 more in March. The total number of unemployed in the single currency zone reached a new record high, 19.222 million. On annual basis, in May 2013 the number was higher by 1.344 million compared to May 2012. Youth unemployment ticked down by 0.1% to 23.8%. Unemployment rate in Germany registered a slight decrease to 5.3%, while in Italy it was on a record high, 12.2%. In France unemployment remained stable at 10.4% and in Spain it was slightly higher, reaching 26.9% in May.