Swiss Franc Firms In Cautious Trade

The Swiss franc moved up against its major counterparts in the New York session on Friday, as U.S. stocks dropped amid profit taking.

Lingering uncertainty about the outlook for interest rates weighed on the markets following the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement earlier in the week.

While the Fed maintained its forecast for three interest rate cuts this year, the timing of the first rate cut remains undetermined.

The chances of a quarter point rate cut in June have rebounded to 65.9 percent, according to CME Group's FedWatch Tool, but there is still a 27.8 percent chance the Fed will leave rates unchanged at the meeting.

Investors digested unexpected dovish moves from certain central banks, notably the Swiss National Bank.

The franc edged up to 0.9709 against the euro and 1.1314 against the pound, off its early lows of 0.9757 and 1.1380, respectively. The currency is likely to locate resistance around 0.95 against the euro and 1.11 against the pound.

The franc rebounded to 168.58 against the yen and 0.8969 against the greenback, from an early 3-day low of 167.97 and more than a 4-month low of 0.9020, respectively. Next key resistance for the currency may be located around 170.00 against the yen and 0.88 against the greenback.