Ella 
In early European trading on Thursday, USD/CHF was still facing selling pressure around 0.8405. Dovish comments from U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) officials continued to weigh on the U.S. dollar (USD).
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said at the Fed’s annual retreat in Jackson Hole last week that “the time has come” for the U.S. central bank to cut interest rates. Financial markets are now fully priced in a 25 basis point (bps) interest rate cut in September, but there is a 36.5% chance of a deeper rate cut, according to CME FedWatch Tool data.
At the same time, San Francisco Federal Reserve President Mary Daly said on Monday, “The direction of change is downward, and now is the time to adjust monetary policy.” Traders generally expect the Fed to cut interest rates in September , which could drag the dollar lower in the short term. Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank Neel Kashkari said that due to the soft labor market, it would be appropriate to start discussing the possibility of cutting interest rates as early as September.
At the same time, rising geopolitical tensions and economic uncertainty in the Middle East may stimulate safe-haven demand, which will benefit currencies such as the Swiss franc against the US dollar. The Israeli military launched raids and airstrikes in several areas of the occupied West Bank early Wednesday, killing at least 11 Palestinians, according to CNN. The biggest offensive.
Data released by the European Center for Economic Research on Wednesday showed that Switzerland’s August ZEW survey expected a value of -3.4%, compared with the previous value of 9.4%. Swiss KOF leading indicators for August will be released on Friday. In the United States, the annualized value of U.S. second-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) will be released on Thursday, and the second estimate is expected to be 2.8% growth.
