USD/CHF sticks to modest gains above 0.96 handle, NFP eyed

The USD/CHF pair caught some fresh bids on Friday and recovered part of previous session's sharp retracement from one-week tops. 

With investors looking past yesterday's US data, showing stubbornly low inflationary pressure in the US, a modest pickup in the US Dollar demand helped the pair to regain traction and move back above the 0.9600 handle. 

This coupled with a strong follow through gains across global equity markets, reinforcing the prevalent risks-on environment, was also seen weighing on the Swiss Franc's safe-haven appeal and further collaborated to the pair's uptick through early European session. 

It, however, remains to be seen if the pair is able to build on the up-move ahead of today's big event risk - the keenly watched US monthly jobs data. Today's NFP report would have implications on the Fed's near-term monetary policy outlook and should act as a big catalyst for the pair's near-term trajectory. 

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Today's US economic docket also features the release of US ISM manufacturing PMI, which is likely to be overshadowed by the post-NFP volatility in the FX market.

Technical levels to watch

Immediate resistance is pegged near 0.9635 area, above which the pair is likely to make a fresh attempt towards surpassing 0.9680 hurdle, and the 0.9700 handle, towards testing 50-day SMA barrier near the 0.9725 region.

On the flip side, weakness back below 0.9585 level is likely to find support near mid-0.9500s, which if broken might turn the pair vulnerable to head back towards retesting the key 0.95 psychological mark support.