Forex - USD/CHF edges higher, Greece still in focus

Forexpros - The U.S. dollar edged higher against the Swiss franc on Wednesday, amid concerns over Greece’s ability to avoid a sovereign debt default as prolonged negotiations in Athens continued.

USD/CHF hit 0.9140 during European late morning trade, the daily high; the pair subsequently consolidated at 0.9128, adding 0.12%.

The pair was likely to find support at 0.9084, the low of November 18 and resistance at 0.9185, the high of November 22.

Greek leaders were to meet again on Wednesday, following a string of delays in negotiations, in a bid to strike a deal on further austerity measures in return for a second rescue package.

Greece needs to finalize a debt restructuring deal by early March as part of an agreement to receive a EUR130 billion bailout.

Meanwhile, the greenback remained under pressure after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke indicated that the central bank would keep borrowing costs close to zero for another two years even after data last week showing the U.S. unemployment unexpectedly fell to a three-year low.

In testimony to the Senate Budget Committee in Washington on Tuesday Bernanke said the decline in the jobless rate understated weakness in the labor market.

Elsewhere, the Swissie was lower against the euro with EUR/CHF advancing 0.15%, to hit 1.2108.

Also Wednesday, official data showed that German exports fell at their fastest rate in nearly three years in December, narrowing the trade surplus to EUR13.9 billion from a revised EUR14.9 billion the previous month.

The data sparked concerns that the official fourth quarter estimate for an economic contraction of 0.25% may have to be revised down.