USD/CHF retreats from multi-month highs, consolidates gains around 0.9450

• USD/CHF touched its highest level since July on Thursday.
• US Dollar Index stays relatively quiet above 93.00.
• Focus shifts to Markit and ISM Manufacturing PMI data from US.

Despite the broad-based selling pressure surrounding the greenback, the USD/CHF pair managed to close in the positive territory on Wednesday and continued to push higher on Thursday. After touching its highest level since July at 0.9473, however, the pair seems to have gone into a consolidation phase and was last seen gaining 0.18% on the day at 0.9451.

Focus shifts to US PMI data

The upbeat market mood made it difficult for the CHF to stay resilient against the USD and allowed USD/CHF to edge higher. Reflecting the risk-on environment, the S&P 500 Index notched a new all-time high at 3,994 on Wednesday. Furthermore, the 10-year US Treasury bond yield gained more than 2% and helped USD/CHF stay in the positive territory.

Although the 10-year T-bond yield is losing more than 1% on Thursday, the US Dollar Index stays relatively quiet around 93.20. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 Futures are up 0.3% on a daily basis, suggesting that Wall Street's main indexes are likely to keep a firm footing. 

Later in the session, the IHS Markit and the ISM will be both releasing April Manufacturing PMI reports. Investors expect the data to show an ongoing expansion in the manufacturing sector's business activity at a strong pace. 

Nevertheless, USD/CHF could struggle to find direction in the second half of the day with trading conditions thinning out ahead of the Easter holiday.

Technical levels to watch for