USD/CHF off session highs in calm trade

US dollar pulled back from session highs against the Swiss franc on Friday, as demand for the greenback was under the influence of the comments made by FED Chairman Ben Bernanke during his testimony in front of the Senate Banking Committee yesterday.

USD/CHF fell off session highs at 0.9461, recorded at 0:40 GMT, to reach 0.9424, retreating 0.25% for the day. Support was expected at July 17th low, 0.9358, while resistance was to be encountered at July 16th high, 0.9494.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said in front of the Senate Banking Committee on Thursday that it was “way too early to make any judgment” as to whether bond purchase tapering will begin this September. He delivered his semi-annual report on monetary policy to the panel after his statement to the House Financial Services Committee the previous day, according to which the central bank will take a wait-and-see stance, regarding monetary stimulus.

Meanwhile, also on Thursday a report showed that Swiss trade balance registered a record surplus in June, higher than expected. It rose to 2.73 billion CHF in June, from 2.12 billion CHF a month ago. Preliminary estimates pointed 2.41 billion CHF. Export figure declined by 5.5% in June on annual basis, adjusted with inflation, to 16.7 billion CHF. Import, on the other hand, decreased by 6.5% to 14.0 billion CHF during the same month.

Elsewhere, the franc was trading higher against the euro, as EUR/CHF cross dipped by 0.10% to 1.2374 at 8:54 GMT. GBP/CHF pair was also with a daily loss of 0.09%, trading at 1.4373 at 8:56 GMT. Ultimately, the Swiss franc advanced versus the Japanese yen as well, with CHF/JPY pair, rising by 0.08% to 106.41 at 8:58 GMT.

Trading volumes were expected to be light on Friday, as no data from the United States was scheduled for release through the course of the trading day.