USDCHF Trading Guide

The pip value is not fixed in dollars, because the quote currency is the franc rather than the dollar.

HomePairsUSD/CHF

USD/CHF at a glance

Contract size and pip size are market conventions and are the same figures the calculators on this site use.

SymbolUSDCHF
Base currencyUSD — US dollar
Quote currencyCHF — Swiss franc
Pip size0.0001
Standard lot100,000 units
Pip value, 1.00 lot10.00 CHF
Pip value, 0.10 lot1.00 CHF
Pip value, 0.01 lot0.10 CHF
Quoted to5 decimal places
Active sessionsLondon, New York

This pair settles in CHF, so the pip value is fixed in CHF and moves in every other currency. The pip value calculator converts it into your account currency.

When USD/CHF is in session

London08:00 – 17:00 London time
New York08:00 – 17:00 New York time

These are the business hours of the financial centres where New York and Zurich trade. Session times shift through the year with daylight saving. The live session clock shows what is open right now in your own time zone.

What moves it

Releases and decisions that concern the US dollar or the Swiss franc:

  • Non-Farm Payrolls
  • CPI inflation
  • FOMC rate decision
  • retail sales
  • SNB rate decision
  • Swiss CPI
  • KOF indicator

Rate decisions come from the Federal Reserve and the Swiss National Bank. Dates and times for all of these are on the economic calendar, which is updated from the published schedule.

Costs on USD/CHF

Spread, commission and swap are set by your broker, not by the market, and they differ by account type and by the hour. No single figure would be true for most readers, so none is given here.

The broker directory lists what each firm advertises, attributed and dated, and the spread cost calculator turns whatever your broker charges into money for a given position size.

USD/CHF questions

What is one pip worth on USD/CHF?

One pip on a standard lot of USD/CHF is 10.00 CHF, because a pip is 0.0001 and a standard lot is 100,000 units. The pair is quoted in CHF, so the value in your own account currency changes with the exchange rate and is not fixed.

How big is one lot of USD/CHF?

A standard lot is 100,000 units, a mini lot is 10,000 and a micro lot is 1,000. This is the standard contract, and it is the same at every broker.

Why is USD/CHF quoted to 5 decimal places?

Most brokers show a fifth decimal, and that last digit is a point or pipette, one tenth of a pip. A pip is the fourth decimal, 0.0001.

When does USD/CHF actually move?

London and New York are the sessions where the currencies in this pair have their home markets open: 08:00 – 17:00 London time, 08:00 – 17:00 New York time. That is a statement about which centres are trading, not a promise about volatility on any particular day. The live session clock shows which one is open right now.

Is the pip value on USD/CHF fixed?

No. The pair settles in CHF, so each pip is worth a fixed amount of CHF and a moving amount of anything else. If your account is in dollars, euros or taka, the pip value drifts with the exchange rate through the day.

What spread should I expect on USD/CHF?

That depends entirely on your broker, your account type and the time of day, so no honest single number exists. The broker directory here lists what each firm advertises, taken from its own site and dated, and the spread cost calculator turns a spread into money for a given position size.

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