Daily F.X. Analysis, October 19 – Top Trade Setups In Forex – Eyes on ECB and Fed Officials Speech!  

On the news side, the economic calendar is filled with high impact speeches from the central bank officials such as the U.S. Fed Chair Powell and ECB President Lagarde. The U.S. Fed Chair Powell participates in a panel discussion about cross-border payments and digital currencies at the International Monetary Fund’s annual meeting, via satellite. Audience questions are expected. Simultaneously, the U.K MPC Member Cunliffe and the FOMC Member Clarida are also due to speak during the U.S. sessions.

Economic Events to Watch Today  

 

 

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EUR/USD – Daily Analysis

The EUR/USD pair was closed at 1.17043 after placing a high of 1.17458 and a low of1/16937. Overall the movement of the EUR/USD pair remained bullish throughout the day. On Friday, the EUR/USD pair showed limited movement as most of its daily gains vanished during late trading sessions after the U.S. dollar became strong across the board. The U.S. dollar became stronger after the hopes for the next round of stimulus ahead of upcoming elections faded away.

Meanwhile, the financial markets were calmed on Friday by the hopes that Pfizer could apply for a U.S. emergency use of its coronavirus vaccine in November. The financial markets were affected by the coronavirus pandemic’s resurgence that could undermine the fragile economic recovery. The Wall Street futures and European stocks came back into positive territory on Friday after the U.S. pharmaceutical group said that the vaccine’s regulatory filing could come as soon as safety data are available in the 3rd week of November.

The rising risk sentiment in the market helped EUR/USD stay on the positive trend on Friday despite the rising number of coronavirus cases across Europe. On the data front, at 14:00 GMT, the Final CPI for the year from Eurozone remained flat with the projections of -0.3%. The Final Core CPI for the year also came in line with the expectations of 0.2%. Whereas, the Trade Balance from Eurozone showed a surplus of 21.9B against the forecasted 18.1B and the previous 19/3B and supported single currency Euro that ultimately added strength in EUR/USD pair.

Whereas, the Italian Trade Balance was released at 14:02 GMT that showed a surplus of 3.93B against the forecasted 7.23B and weighed on the Euro. Most data from Eurozone came in line with the forecasts and had a null-effect on EUR/USD pair. From the U.S. side, the Core Retail Sales rose to 1.5% against the forecasted 0.4%, and the Retail Sales was advanced to 1/9% against the projected 0.7% and supported the U.S. dollar. The gains in EUR/USD pair were dragged down by the strong Retail Sales figures from the U.S. that added strength to the U.S. dollar and exerted pressure on EUR/USD pair’s prices on Friday.

The combination of the severe economic downturn due to coronavirus and the high value of the Euro weighed heavily on inflation levels on the Eurozone economy. That is why most of the daily gains in EUR/USD were lost on Friday as the continuous threat of deflation remains a severe problem for policymakers; however, it seems like the negative trend would continue for some time.

Whereas the Capacity Utilization Rate from the U.S. dropped to 71.5% against the expected 72.1%, and the Industrial Production from the U.S. also declined to -0.6% from the forecasted 0.6% and weighed heavily on the U.S. dollar. U.S. reports’ negative results exerted pressure on the U.S. dollar and ultimately raised the EUR/USD pair’s gains.

On the other hand, the U.S. dollar was stronger because of the U.S. President’s offer to increase the size of a fiscal stimulus package by Republicans to win the Democrats’ support. The attempt to increase the stimulus package’s size was due to securing his position in the upcoming elections by providing aid to the struggling Americans. However, there are still no signs that Democrats and Republicans will reach an agreement before November 3rd. The strong U.S. dollar weighed on EUR/USD pair and capped further gains in the currency pair on Friday.

Daily Technical Levels

Support Resistance

1.1676     1.1748

1.1646     1.1790

1.1605     1.1820

Pivot point: 1.1718

EUR/USD– Trading Tip

The EUR/USD is trading at 1.1706 level, holding above an immediate double bottom support level of 1.1693. The U.S. dollar is likely to show some volatility during the day on the back of high and medium impact economic events from the United States. A stronger dollar may trigger a selling trend until the 1.1656 level, while the resistance can be found around 1.1725 and the 1.1748 levels.

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GBP/USD – Daily Analysis

The GBP/USD pair was closed at1.29150 after placing a high of 1.29622 and a low of 1.28616. Overall the movement of the GBP/USD pair remained flat throughout the day. On Friday, the GBP/USD pair remained flat as the day’s opening and closing levels for the currency pair remained the same at 1.29150. However, the GBP/USD pair remained marginally lowered for the week because of the contradictory reports. The coronavirus and the U.S. Presidential elections headlines and the Brexit developments had a great impact on GBP/USD pair’s prices during the week.

The GBP/USD pushed to the higher side after the hopes that the U.K. and E.U. could continue trade talks emerged in the market. The U.K. foreign secretary Dominic Raab said that both sides were close to a deal, and this encouraged hopes that PM Boris Johnson will not walk away from further discussions. However, the gains in GBP/USD pair could not live for long as the same hopes faded away after the spokesman to PM Boris Johnson said that the trade talks between the U.K. and E.U. were over unless there was a fundamental change from the economic bloc. These comments weighed on the local currency British Pound, and the pair GBP/USD lost all of its gains from the earlier session.

A day earlier, the E.U. leaders dropped their commitments to work intensively with the U.K. to reach a trade deal and said Britain should make the necessary moves to secure an agreement. The key sticking points for Brexit negotiations were still the level playing field, fisheries, and governance issues.

The lack of progress in Brexit talks and the rising number of coronavirus cases in Britain weighed on local currency GBP. There was no macroeconomic data release from the United Kingdom on the data front, so traders kept following the U.S. dollar movements on Friday. At 17:30 GMT, the Core Retail Sales for September from the U.S. advanced to 1.5% from the projected 0.4%. The U.S. dollar Retail Sales also increased to 1.9% against the forecasted 0.7% and supported the U.S. dollar. The Capacity Utilization Rate from the U.S. dropped to 71.5% from the forecasted 72.1% and weighed on the U.S. dollar. The Industrial Production from the U.S. dropped to -0.6% from the anticipated 0.6% and weighed heavily on the U.S. dollar. The economic data from the United States on Friday also came in mixed and provided a null effect on the GBP/USD pair.

Apart from economic data, the U.S. dollar was strong on Friday due to the U.S. stimulus package’s latest developments. It seems like U.S. President Donald Trump wants to win elections and secure his position for the second time on November 3rd. Trump proposed increasing the $1.8trillion package to provide aid to struggling areas before upcoming elections. However, this statement was not enough to raise bars for the GBP/USD pair on Friday.

Over Brexit Front, the PM Boris Johnson agreed to extend the E.U.’s trade talks until October. It was already agreed between the PM Johnson and E.U. Commission president Ursula von der Leyen. The extended deadline raised the chances for a Brexit deal before the end of the transitions period on December 31st. The rising optimism in the market helped the risk sentiment and favored the GBP/USD pair’s upward direction. However, the upward trend of the currency pair was reversed due to the rising number of coronavirus cases, and the pair ended its day at the same level it had started its day with.

Daily Technical Levels

Support Resistance

1.2859     1.3000

1.2804     1.3086

1.2718     1.3141

Pivot point: 1.2945

GBP/USD– Trading Tip

The GBP/USD is trading at 1.2890 level, having supported over 1.2890 level. Above this, the next target is likely to be found around 1.2957 and 1.3020 level. Simultaneously, a bearish breakout of the 1.2890 support level can extend selling bias until 1.2840. The bearish bias remains solid below the 1.2890 mark. The cable may exhibit a breakout on the release of U.S. related economic events, especially the retail sales and consumer confidence. The leading indicators, such as MACD and RSI, support selling; therefore, it’s worth taking a selling trade below 1.2880 today. 

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USD/JPY – Daily Analysis

The USD/JPY pair was closed at 105.377 after placing a high of 105.444 and a low of 105.188. Overall the movement of the USD/JPY pair remained bearish throughout the day. Despite the US dollar’s strength across the board on Friday, the pair USD/JPY dropped and posted losses for the day. It was mainly due to the US stimulus measure’s mixed developments in the market.

On Friday, the US President Donald Trump said that he was ready to increase the $1.8 trillion stimulus relief package for coronavirus. This news raised the hopes that the next round of stimulus will be delivered before elections on November 3rd and raised risk sentiment that supported the USD/JPY pair.

However, the same hopes were faded away after the Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said that he wanted to put forward a highly targeted proposal of $500 billion despite the prior skinny bill that was failed. After Trump’s above statement, the Republican senator’s comments showed that Republicans were against the big stimulus package before elections. It raised concerns that stimulus will not be delivered before elections and weighed on risk sentiment, and dragged the USD/JPY pair on Friday to the lower side.

Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis President Neel Kashkari said on Friday that the US regulators were going in the wrong direction when it comes to the banks, and the arguments banks use against the strict requirements amount to nonsense. He added that there should be tough and higher capital requirements on the bigger banks.
At 17:30 GMT, the highlighted Core Retail Sales from the United States advanced to 1.5% against the forecasted 0.4% and supported the US dollar. The US dollar Retail Sales also raised to 1.9% from the forecasted 0.7% and supported the US dollar. At 19:00 GMT, the Prelim UoM Consumer Sentiment for October also raised o 81.2 against the forecasted 80.2 and supported the US dollar.

All these highlighted macroeconomic releases from the US gave strength to its local currency but failed to provide upside momentum to the USD/JPY pair on Friday as the focus of trades has been shifted towards stimulus package and upcoming US presidential elections.

At 18:15 GMT, the Capacity Utilization Rate from the United States for September dropped to 71.5% against the projected 72.1% and weighed on the US dollar. In August, the Industrial Production from the US also dropped to -0.6% against the forecasted 0.6% and weighed on the US dollar.

At 19:00 GMT, the Business Inventories in August remained flat with a projection of 0.3%. The Prelim UoM Inflation Expectations came in as 2.7% in October against September’s 2.6%. At 23:00 GMT, the Federal Budget Balance also came in line with the expectations of -124.6B.
The US side’s negative data weighed on the US dollar, which ultimately dragged the USD/JPY pair on the downside on Friday. Furthermore, the risk sentiment was also supported by the news that Pfizer could be applied for a US emergency use of its coronavirus vaccine in November. The raised risk sentiment helped limit the losses of the USD/JPY pair on Friday.

Daily Technical Levels

105.05     105.70

104.82     106.12

104.40     106.36

Pivot point: 105.47

USD/JPY – Trading Tips

The USD/JPY traded sideway, with a neutral bias within a narrow trading range of 105.600 level to the 105.250 mark. Most of the selling triggered following the USD/JPY disrupted an upward channel at the 105.900 mark on Monday. The USD/JPY is trading at 105.459 marks, the support that’s was prolonged by double bottom mark on the two-hourly charts. A bearish violation of the 105.450 mark may encourage additional selling unto the 105.070 support level as the MACD, and the 50 periods EMA are in support of selling sentiment today. Let’s consider opening sell trade beneath 105.60 and buying over 105.050 level today. Good luck!