USD/CHF hovers above 1-week low ahead of FOMC decision

The USD/CHF currency pair was hovering just above a 1-week low of 0.7925 on Tuesday ahead of the outcome of the Federal Reserve’s two-day policy meeting.

The Fed is widely expected to lower its federal funds rate target range by 25 basis points to 4.00%-4.25% at its September meeting.

Markets are also pricing in a 4% chance of a super-sized 50 basis point cut.

In July, the Fed kept borrowing costs without change, but two governors dissented in favor of a rate cut, which has been the first such dual dissent since 1993.

And, the minutes from the Fed’s meeting in July showed that most policy makers remained more concerned about persistent inflation pressures than about labor market risks.

Investors will also be paying close attention to the press conference with Fed Chair Jerome Powell for clues over the timing of future interest rate cuts as well as to the new set of FOMC economic forecasts.

Meanwhile, the latest data out of Switzerland showed that producer and import prices had dropped 0.6% month-over-month in August, as pharmaceutical products contributed the most to the decline. On the other hand, crude oil and natural gas became more costly.

The USD/CHF currency pair was last down 0.22% on the day to trade at 0.7928.