Swiss Franc Exhibits Weakness Against Majors

(RTTNews) - The Swiss franc dropped against its major counterparts in the European session on Thursday, as investors digested mixed signals from the U.S. Federal Reserve on rate-hike plans.

After delivering another quarter-point rate hike, the Fed signaled a potential pause in its tightening cycle depending on incoming data on inflation and other factors.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell said the U.S. central bank is unlikely to be able to shield the U.S. economy from the fallout of a failure to raise the federal debt ceiling.

The focus now shifts to a European Central Bank meeting later in the day, with analysts expecting a 25-bps rate hike.

U.S weekly jobless claims data due later in the day and Friday's jobs data will be key.

The franc dropped to a 2-day low of 1.1151 against the pound, from an early 8-day high of 1.1083. The franc is seen finding support around the 1.14 level.

The franc was down against the yen, at a 6-day low of 151.60. If the currency slides again, it may find support around the 144.00 area.

The franc fell to 0.8881 against the dollar and 0.9805 against the euro, off its early more than 2-year high of 0.8819 and an 8-day high of 0.9774, respectively. The next possible support for the franc is seen around 0.90 against the dollar and 1.00 against the euro.

Looking ahead, at 8:15 am ET, the European Central Bank is set to announce its monetary policy decision. The ECB is widely seen raising the key refi rate by 25 basis points as inflation is expected to remain high for too long.

ECB President Christine Lagarde is set to hold press conference at 8.45 am ET.

In the New York session, Canada and U.S. trade data for March, U.S. weekly jobless claims data and Canada Ivey PMI for April are slated for release.