The USD/CHF Currency Pair (U.S. Dollar / Swiss Franc) is the exchange rate of U.S. Dollar Swiss Franc. It expresses the value of one US dollar in Swiss Francs.
The USD/CHF is the 5th most traded pair and represents 4% of the total of transactions on the FOREX in 2010. From 2008 to 2010, the volatility of the Dollar USD / Swiss Franc has been about 130 pips.
The USD/CHF is known as a pair in trend. Indeed, there is often a long upward or downward trends. It is therefore a pair adapted to Swing Trading. Though, scalpers will enjoy much less because of the lack of volatility.
The CHF is also considered a safe haven as well as gold. In case of economic crisis, the Swiss Franc appreciates. We note also that the EUR/CHF and USD/CHF exchange rates are highly positively correlated.
Since its creation, the USD/CHF ranged from 0.9636 Swiss francs, the lowest reached in March 2008 and 1.83 CHF in October 2000.
The pair USD/CHF is quoted in 4 decimal places but you can sometimes find 5 with some brokers. The exchange rate is floating and therefore subject to the law of supply and demand on the interbank forex market.
Both central banks linked to the pair Euro / Swiss Franc are the Federal Reserve (FED) for the USD and the Swiss Central Bank (SNB) for CHF. Not like other central banks, the SNB regularly intervenes directly on the foreign exchange market to control its currency. Thus, it is not common to see significant upward and downward spikes on parity reflecting an intervention by the SNB. The decisions taken by both central banks also have a strong impact on the evolution of the pair EUR / CHF.