USD/CHF in search of a firm direction, stuck in a range below mid-0.9700s

The USD/CHF pair struggled for a firm direction and see-sawed between tepid gains/minor losses within 25-pips narrow trading range.

Currently hovering around the 0.9725-30 region, the pair held within previous day's trading range in a directionless trading session on Tuesday. Moreover, the US Dollar struggled to preserve the post-NFP recovery gains and languished near 15-month lows, which has eventually failed to provide any fresh bullish impetus to the major.

Even the prevalent cautious environment around global equity markets did little to drive the Swiss Franc's safe-haven demand, while today's release of Swiss unemployment rate also failed to impress the market participants and went unnoticed.

Today's US economic docket features the release of JOLTS Job Openings and would be looked upon to grab some short-term trading opportunities. Investors, however, are likely to opt for a wait and watch strategy ahead of the latest US inflation figures, due for release on Friday, before positioning for the next leg of directional move.

Technical levels to watch

Bulls would be eyeing for a strong follow through buying interest beyond mid-0.9700s, above which the pair is likely to aim towards testing 100-day SMA hurdle near the 0.9795-0.9800 region. On the downside, 0.9710 level now seems to have emerged as immediate support, which if broken is likely to accelerate the fall towards 0.9680 level en-route 0.9650 important support.