Investing.com - The U.S. dollar rose against the Swiss franc on Tuesday, reapproaching seven-month highs as demand for the safe-haven greenback strengthened broadly amid renewed geopolitical concerns.
USD/CHF hit 0.9101 during European late morning trade, the pair's highest since August 7; the pair subsequently consolidated at 0.9097, rising 0.33%.
The pair was likely to find support at 0.9056, Monday's low and resistance at 0.9156.
Risk sentiment was hit after Iraq on Monday named Haidar al-Abadi as the new prime minister to end the eight-year rule of Nuri al-Maliki, but Maliki has refused to go and deployed special forces in Baghdad.
In Ukraine, a Russian convoy of 280 trucks carrying humanitarian aid set off on Tuesday amid Western warnings against using help as a pretext for an invasion.
The Swissie was steady against the euro, with EUR/CHF inching up 0.05% to 1.2141.
The euro came under pressure after a report showed that investor confidence in Germany, the euro zone’s largest economy slumped to the lowest level since December 2012 this month.
The ZEW Centre for Economic Research reported that its index of German economic sentiment dropped to 8.6 this month, down from 27.1 in July. It was the weakest reading in 20 months and was well below economists’ forecasts of 18.2.
The report said the decline in economic sentiment was likely connected the impact of ongoing geopolitical tensions on the German economy.
Recent economic reports have indicated that sanctions on Russia as a result of the conflict in Ukraine are acting as a drag on the German economy. Germany is Russia’s largest trading partner in Europe.
The ZEW report also indicated that economic growth in Germany will be weaker than expected in 2014.