Forex: USD/CHF rallies on US jobs report

The greenback exploded on the much better than expected US nonfarm payrolls, adding 236K jobs in February instead of the 160K consensus. January data, however, was revised lower from 159K to 116K. Dollar strength took the USD/CHF more than 100 pips higher, surpassing the November high of 0.9513, as it has printed a fresh one at 0.9548 and gets closer to the 0.9600 mark.

The unemployment report dropped unexepectedly from 7.9% to 7.7%, against an unchanged consensus. Average weekly hours rose slightly from 34.4 to 34.5 and hourly earnings rose 0.2% in February, as expected.

A break above 0.9513 “would indicate potential for further strength to 0.9609”, wrote UBS analyst Gareth Berry, pointing to support at 0.9394.