{"id":31326,"date":"2026-03-23T09:58:26","date_gmt":"2026-03-23T09:58:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/uncategorized\/31326\/"},"modified":"2026-03-23T09:58:26","modified_gmt":"2026-03-23T09:58:26","slug":"usd-chf-edges-higher-towards-0-7890-as-feds-hawkish-pause-boosts-dollar-amid-middle-east-monitoring","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/live-updates\/31326\/","title":{"rendered":"USD\/CHF edges higher towards 0.7890 as Fed\u2019s hawkish pause boosts dollar, amid Middle East monitoring"},"content":{"rendered":"USD\/CHF rose to about 0.7890 in the early European session on Monday, supported by a hawkish hold from the US Federal Reserve. Traders are also watching developments in the Middle East.\n\nThe Fed voted 11-1 to keep interest rates unchanged at 3.50% to 3.75% at its March meeting last week. This was the second meeting in a row with no change, after a series of rate cuts in late 2025.\n\n

Middle East Risk And Inflation Pressure<\/h3>\nHigher crude oil and energy prices, linked to the US-Israeli war with Iran, have renewed inflation concerns and reduced expectations for Fed cuts. Futures pricing shows a nearly 85% chance of no rate cuts at the April Fed meeting, based on the CME FedWatch tool.\n\nAt the same time, rising tensions could support the Swiss franc as a safe-haven currency. Iran\u2019s military said it would completely shut the Strait of Hormuz if US President Donald Trump targets Iranian energy facilities.\n\nTrump warned on Sunday that he would \u201cobliterate\u201d Iranian power plants if the Strait of Hormuz was not opened within 48 hours. The statements added to market focus on regional risk.\n\nGiven the Fed’s hawkish pivot away from the rate cuts we saw in late 2025, the path of least resistance for the US dollar appears to be upward. We should consider using options to position for further USD strength against the Swiss franc. The market is pricing in an 85% chance of rates remaining on hold in April, reinforcing this short-term dollar bull case.\n\nThis shift in central bank policy is being driven by renewed inflation fears from soaring energy prices. Looking back at the spike in early 2022, WTI crude jumped from around $90 to over $120 a barrel in just a few weeks following the invasion of Ukraine. A similar shock seems plausible now, which would force the Fed’s hand to remain tight.\n\n

Options Strategy To Capture Volatility<\/h3>\nThe threat to the Strait of Hormuz is the primary catalyst for this oil price risk. The U.S. Energy Information Administration has consistently noted that about 21% of global petroleum liquids consumption passes through this chokepoint. Any closure, however brief, would have an immediate and severe impact on global supply and prices.\n\nHowever, we must account for the Swiss franc\u2019s role as a classic safe-haven asset. An escalating conflict could easily trigger a flight to safety that strengthens the CHF, creating a significant two-way risk for the USD\/CHF pair. This tug-of-war between a hawkish Fed and geopolitical fear is a recipe for high volatility.\n\nTherefore, the most prudent derivative strategy is to buy volatility rather than betting on a specific direction. We believe establishing long straddles or strangles on USD\/CHF is appropriate, as these positions profit from a large price move in either direction. This allows us to capitalize on the rising tension without being exposed to the binary outcome of the geopolitical standoff.\n\nHistorically, such uncertainty causes a spike in implied volatility, making options more expensive. We saw this with the VIX index, which surged over 35 during the onset of the 2022 conflict. It is better for us to enter these volatility positions now before the market fully prices in the escalating war risk.\n\nCreate your live VT Markets account<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0start trading<\/a>\u00a0now. <\/b>\n

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Start trading now – Click here<\/a> to create your real VT Markets account <\/strong> <\/p>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

USD\/CHF climbed to 0.7890 as hawkish Fed holds rates, Middle East tensions and oil prices drive markets.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":38,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[46],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31326","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-live-updates"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"featured_image_src":null,"featured_image_src_square":null,"author_info":{"display_name":"josephine","author_link":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/author\/josephine\/"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31326","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/38"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31326"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31326\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31326"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31326"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31326"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}