Investing.com - The U.S. dollar was up against the Swiss franc on Wednesday, as ongoing concerns over the debt crisis in the euro zone and the risk of contagion from Spain bolstered demand for safe haven assets.
USD/CHF hit 0.9198 during European late morning trade, the pair’s highest since Monday; the pair subsequently consolidated at 0.9194, gaining 0.46%.
The pair was likely to find support at 0.9142, the session low and short-term resistance at 0.9221, the high of April 5.
Investors remained cautious ahead of a critical auction of two and 10-year Spanish government bonds on Thursday, amid uncertainty over whether the government will be able to reduce one of the euro zone’s largest budget deficits in the face of a looming recession.
Market sentiment was boosted after an auction of short-term Spanish government debt on Tuesday raised the full targeted amount of EUR3 billion, but the country’s borrowing costs almost doubled.
Meanwhile, concerns over Portugal’s economic health intensified after Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho said Wednesday there were "no guarantees" that the country would meet its commitment to return to the international capital markets before September 2013.
In Switzerland, a report earlier showed that economic sentiment improved unexpectedly in April, turning positive for the first time since October.
The Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW) said its indicator of economic sentiment improved by 2.1 points to a reading of 2.1 in April, up from a flat reading in March.
Analysts had expected the index to decline by 8.0 points to a reading of minus 8.0 in April.
The Swissie was fractionally lower against the euro, with EUR/CHF inching up 0.07% to hit 1.2022.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to release official data on crude oil stockpiles.
USD/CHF hit 0.9198 during European late morning trade, the pair’s highest since Monday; the pair subsequently consolidated at 0.9194, gaining 0.46%.
The pair was likely to find support at 0.9142, the session low and short-term resistance at 0.9221, the high of April 5.
Investors remained cautious ahead of a critical auction of two and 10-year Spanish government bonds on Thursday, amid uncertainty over whether the government will be able to reduce one of the euro zone’s largest budget deficits in the face of a looming recession.
Market sentiment was boosted after an auction of short-term Spanish government debt on Tuesday raised the full targeted amount of EUR3 billion, but the country’s borrowing costs almost doubled.
Meanwhile, concerns over Portugal’s economic health intensified after Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho said Wednesday there were "no guarantees" that the country would meet its commitment to return to the international capital markets before September 2013.
In Switzerland, a report earlier showed that economic sentiment improved unexpectedly in April, turning positive for the first time since October.
The Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW) said its indicator of economic sentiment improved by 2.1 points to a reading of 2.1 in April, up from a flat reading in March.
Analysts had expected the index to decline by 8.0 points to a reading of minus 8.0 in April.
The Swissie was fractionally lower against the euro, with EUR/CHF inching up 0.07% to hit 1.2022.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to release official data on crude oil stockpiles.