Swiss Franc Climbs On Recession Concerns

The Swiss franc advanced against its major rivals in the European session on Friday, on growing concerns about a recession fuelled by aggressive rate hikes from the Federal Reserve to tame inflation.

Powell said that the Fed's commitment to curbing inflation was "unconditional," intensifying worries about the possibility of a recession.

Commodity prices dropped on growing concerns over a global economic downturn.

In his Congressional testimony on Thursday, Powell acknowledged that the Fed's monetary policy tightening may push up unemployment.

There are no precision tools and the possibility of unemployment moving up has risen, Powell added.

The franc rebounded to 140.96 against the yen, from a low of 139.87 seen at 4 am ET. On the upside, 141.00 is possibly seen as its next resistance level.

The franc edged up to 0.9578 against the dollar and 1.1757 against the pound, from its early lows of 0.9632 and 1.1805, respectively. The currency is likely to locate resistance around 0.92 against the dollar and 1.16 against the pound.

The franc recovered slightly to 1.0100 against the euro, after falling to 1.0139 at 4:20 am ET. If the franc rises further, 0.99 is possibly seen as its next resistance level.

Looking ahead, U.S. new home sales for May and University of Michigan's final consumer sentiment index for June are due in the New York session.