Investing.com - The U.S. dollar climbed against the Swiss franc on Friday, easing off the previous session's three-and-a-half year lows as markets digested the Swiss National Bank's surprise monetary policy statement made that day.
USD/CHF hit 0.8807 during European afternoon trade, the session high; the pair subsequently consolidated at 0.8705, rallying 3.50%.
The pair was likely to find support at 0.7360, Thursday's low and resistance at 1.0221, Thursday's high.
The dollar dove over 11% against the Swissie on Thursday after the SNB shocked markets on Thursday by scrapping the 1.20 per euro exchange rate floor it imposed in September 2011, in a bid to stave off deflation and prevent the continued appreciation of the safe-haven franc.
The central bank also cut rates to minus 0.75%, from minus 0.25% and lowered its target range for the three-month Libor to minus 1.25% to minus 0.25%, from minus 0.75% to 0.25%.
The move indicated that the SNB sees a high likelihood that the European Central Bank will implement quantitative easing measures at its upcoming meeting next week, sending the euro plunging over 12% against the Swiss franc on Thursday.
EUR/CHF recovered on Friday, surging 3.12% to trade at 1.0082.
Earlier in the day, official data showed that Swiss retail sales fell at an annualized rate of 1.2% in November, confounding expectations for a 1.1% rise, after an uptick of 0.3% the previous month.
Market participants turned their attention to U.S. industrial production and consumer sentiment data due later in the trading session for further indications on the strength of the country's economic recovery after a string of mixed reports were released on Thursday.