This is the current USD-CHF mid-market exchange rate. The Total Cost of buying foreign currency in the above table is calculated as the sum of all fees and the exchange rate margin, which is the difference between the provider's exchange rate and the mid-market USD-CHF exchange rate.
Whenever you are researching a particular exchange rate you are actually interested in two currencies as the value of a currency must always be quoted relative to a second currency.
So it follows that if you are determining the best time to transact, in this case the USD vs CHF, you should pay attention to both United States Dollar and Swiss Franc news and forecasts.
In the third week of April the Dollar Index was rallying strongly towards the mid-97s, slightly below major resistance at 97.70, a break of which would be massively positive for the greenback. The index was up 1.7 percent year-to-date.
The dollar’s strength comes in spite of a dovish surprise in March from the Federal Reserve, which ditched two interest rate hikes from its 2019 projections. Fortunately for dollar holders, the rest of the world has problems and other important central banks also turned dovish, removing much of the incentive for selling USD.
Bloomberg research warned in April of potential for a large upcoming move in the US dollar, up or down. Over the past quarter-century, three prominent troughs in the JPMorgan Global FX Volatility Index were followed by dollar moves over 6-month periods worth 10-15 percent. The index was trading in mid-April at a 5-year low.
In March, the Swiss National Bank reaffirmed its commitment to an ultra-loose monetary policy, which includes negative interest rates and a willingness to intervene in FX markets to weaken the “highly valued” franc.
In the weeks leading up to this report, the franc strengthened on the back of non-Swiss factors: poor eurozone data, Brexit, a dovish Federal Reserve and so on. Over a longer 6-month horizon, the franc had slightly underperformed its peers, showing that the aforementioned Swiss monetary policy themes are the dominant medium-term drivers of franc valuations.
Compared with rates 6 months ago, the franc was nearly 4 percent weaker against the US dollar, at Fr0.993; was unchanged against the euro, at Fr1.123; was 4.5 percent lower against the pound, at Fr1.311; and against the aussie, it was a percent lower at Fr0.703.
Recent forecasts from Citibank have USD/CHF and AUD/CHF little changed over 6-12 months, at 0.98 and 0.705 respectively, and EUR/CHF at 1.155.
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