USD/CHF surges through 100-DMA barrier, comfortable above 0.9600 handle

   •  Hawkish FOMC meeting minutes helps revive USD demand.
   •  Easing geopolitical tensions weigh on CHF’s safe-haven appeal.
   •  A sustained move above 100-DMA prompts a follow-through buying.

The greenback caught some strong bids on Thursday, helping the USD/CHF pair to surge back above 100-day SMA resistance near the 0.9600 handle.

The US Dollar bearish pressure eased following the release of latest FOMC meeting minutes, which revealed policymakers’ confidence about the strength of the economy and that inflation will rise toward the 2% target in coming months.

This coupled with receding geopolitical tensions, after the US President Donald Trump reportedly did not settle on plan with Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, weighed on the Swiss Franc's safe-haven appeal and collaborated to the pair's up-move for the third consecutive session.

Meanwhile, possibilities of some short-term trading stops being triggered on a sustained move above 100-day SMA barrier, around the 0.9590-0.9600 region, further aggravated the up-move over the past couple of hours.

With today's strong up-move, the pair has now recovered nearly 100-pips from one-week lows touched on Tuesday and moved back within striking distance of over 2-month tops set last week, closer to the very important 200-day SMA. 

Traders now look forward to the release of usual weekly initial jobless claims data, the only highlight from today's relatively thin US economic docket, for some fresh impetus. 

Technical levels to watch

Immediate resistance is pegged near the 0.9650-60 region (200-DMA), above which the pair seems all set to aim towards reclaiming the 0.9700 handle. On the flip side, the 0.9600-0.9590 region (100-day SMA) now becomes an immediate support to defend, which if broken might now turn the pair vulnerable to break below 0.9560 intermediate support and head towards challenging the key 0.9500 psychological mark.