USD/CHF appreciates to near 0.8600 due to fading likelihood of a bumper Fed rate cut

• USD/CHF gains ground as traders expect the Fed to slow the pace of interest rate cuts.
• Future markets suggest 89% odds of a 25 basis point cut in November, with no expectation for a 50-basis-point cut.
• Swiss Producer and Import Prices fell by 0.1% MoM and 1.3% YoY in September.

USD/CHF continues to gain ground for the second day, trading around 0.8600 during the early European hours on Monday. The upside of the USD/CHF pair could be attributed to a solid US Dollar (USD), fueled by expectations that the US Federal Reserve (Fed) will slow the pace of borrowing cost reductions more than previously anticipated.

Traders are looking for a 25 basis points (bps) rate cut from the Fed in November, following the release of the Producer Price Index (PPI) data from the United States last Friday. According to the CME FedWatch Tool, the markets are pricing in almost 89% chance of a 25 basis point rate cut in November, with no expectation for a 50-basis-point reduction.

In September, the US Producer Price Index (PPI) remained unchanged at 0%, below August's 0.2% month-on-month increase. Meanwhile, the monthly core PPI, which excludes food and energy prices, expanded by 0.2% as expected, down from 0.3% the prior month.

In Switzerland, Producer and Import Prices declined by 0.1% month-over-month in September, contrary to the expected increase of 0.1%, following a 0.2% rise in August. On an annual basis, Producer and Import Prices dropped by 1.3%, slightly exceeding the previous decline of 1.2%. This marked the seventeenth consecutive period of decline.

The Swiss Franc (CHF) receives downward pressure from the rising likelihood of more rate cuts by the Swiss National Bank (SNB). "With inflation being reasonably low in Switzerland and with an economy that could grow faster, that tends in the direction of a lower SNB's policy rate.