USD/CHF clings to gains above 0.97 handle ahead of US ISM PMI

The USD/CHF pair gained some fresh traction on Monday and touched an intraday high level of 0.9728 before retreating few pips to currently trade around the 0.9710 region.

The pair stalled last week's corrective slide from near two-month tops and snapped two consecutive days of losing streak amid persistent greenback buying interest. In fact, the key US Dollar Index stood tall near one-month tops and has been one of the key factors driving the pair higher at the start of a new trading week.

Adding to this, the prevalent positive trading sentiment across European bourses and indications of a stronger opening in the US equity markets was also seen weighing on the Swiss Franc's safe-haven appeal and further collaborated to the strong bid tone surrounding the major.

Looking at the broader picture, the pair's price-action over the past couple of weeks could be categorized as consolidative phase above 100-day SMA. Hence, it would be prudent to wait for a decisive break through the near-term trading range before committing to the pair's next leg of directional move.

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Today's US economic docket features the release of ISM manufacturing PMI and would now be looked upon for some fresh trading impetus.

Technical levels to watch

Immediate resistance is pegged near the 0.9740-60 region, above which bulls are likely to aim towards reclaiming the 0.9800 handle before eventually darting towards the very important 200-day SMA hurdle near the 0.9845 region.

On the flip side, sustained weakness back below 0.9700-0.9695 zone could get extended towards 0.9655 region (100-day SMA) en-route 0.9640 strong horizontal support.