- EUR/CHF is on the way to parity as the euro gets crushed.
- US NFP data was very strong, as expected, sending the US dollar to fresh highs.
EUR/CHF has reached a new low at 1.0025 on the back of the stellar US Nonfarm Payrolls report which has propelled the greenback to a fresh high and sent the euro into the abyss where it touches 1.0885 vs the US dollar, breaking 1.0900.
The US jobs data arrived as follows:
- US Change in Nonfarm Payrolls Feb: 678K (est 423K; prev 467K).
- US Unemployment Rate Feb: 3.8% (est 3.9%; prev 4.0%).
- US Average Hourly Earnings (Y/Y) Feb: 5.1% (est 5.8%; prev 5.7%).
- US Average Hourly Earnings (M/M) Feb: 0.0% (est 0.5%; prev 0.7%).
The DXY is now trading around the highs of the day at 98.916 as markets price in a Federal Reserve rate hike. However, the week is also ending on a risk-off note and this is crushing the euro.
”There is now really nothing in the way of support until the April 2020 low near 1.0725 and then the March 2020 low near 1.0635,” analysts at Brown Brothers Harriman said.
In terms of the Federal Reserve the analysts said, ”given the heightened uncertainty surrounding the Ukraine crisis, we think 50 bp would simply be too aggressive at the moment. WIRP suggests zero odds of a 50 bp move and so the Fed does not have to feel that it has to do 50 bp just to meet market expectations,” analysts at Brown Brothers Harriman said.
”The Fed can then wait nearly two months until the May 3-4 FOMC meeting to see how the crisis has impacted the US economy before deciding on its next move. If circumstances warrant, the Fed could always move intra-meeting but that seems unlikely right now.”