USD/CHF lower before Bernanke testimony

US dollar traded lower against the Swiss franc on Tuesday, as the greenback was under pressure ahead of congressional testimony by Ben Bernanke on Wednesday.

USD/CHF hit a session low at 0.9420 at 12:48 GMT, after which consolidation followed at 0.9431. Support was likely to be received at July 11th low, 0.9412, while resistance was to be encountered at July 15th high, 0.9534.

FED Chairman Ben Bernanke is expected to deliver his semi-annual monetary-policy testimony on July 17-18th. He said in June that the central bank may begin to taper its 85 billion USD in monthly asset purchases by this year’s end and exit the stimulus program in mind-2014, if US economic growth meets policymakers’ objectives. On Monday the Department of Commerce said that retail sales in the United States rose by 0.4% to 422.79 billion USD in June, below the expected 0.7% increase, while during May sales were revised down to a 0.5% rise from 0.6% previously. This data strengthened concerns of a possible slow down in economy’s momentum. In addition, another report stated that the Empire State manufacturing index in the United States rose to a five-month high of 9.46 during July from 7.84 in June. Economists had projected a reading of 5.00.

Meanwhile, the franc was stable against the euro, as EUR/CHF pair eased down 0.07% to 1.2381 at 13:06 GMT. It was reported earlier today, that ZEW Economic Sentiment index in Germany decreased in July, compared to June, by 2.2 to 36.3, below the expected value of 40.0. On the other hand, Euro zone’s ZEW Economic Sentiment index rose by 2.2 to reach 32.8 during July compared to preceding month, outstripping preliminary estimates of a reading of 31.8.