Europe – Forex Academy

The U.S. Federal Reserve will release its latest FOMC meeting minutes. The European Commission will post the May Consumer Confidence Index (-23.7 expected) and final readings of April CPI (+0.4% on-year expected). The U.K. Office for National Statistics will release April CPI (+0.9% on-year expected).

Economic Events to Watch Today

EUR/USD – Daily Analysis

The EUR/USD prices were closed at 1.09228 after placing a high of 1.09759 and a low of 1.09020. Overall the movement of the EUR/USD pair remained bullish throughout the day. After gaining almost 100 pips on Monday, the EUR/USD pair rose to near its highest level in 2 weeks of 1.0976 level on Tuesday. The upbeat market mode was derived by the Franco-German recovery fund proposal, which was announced on Monday and provided a boost to the single currency EUR.

The Vice President of the European Commission, Valdis Dombrovskis, said that the European Stability Mechanism (E.S.) strongly supported the Franco-German proposal. Commission was also looking forward to presenting the proposal in the upcoming European summit on May 27.

Following the previous day’s gains, the EUR/USD pair continued to rise and was further supported by the better than expected economic data release on Tuesday.

At 14:00 GMT, the ZEW Economic Sentiment from the European Union showed that the economic outlook of the Eurozone in the view of institutional investors and analysts increased to 46.0 from the expected27.4 and supported EUR.

The German ZEW Economic Sentiment also showed an improved economic outlook after releasing as 51.0 against the expected 30.0 during the month of May and supported EUR.

The better than the expected economic outlook of the whole bloc, along with Germany even in the lockdown time, gave a sudden push to the already prevailing bullish trend in EUR/USD and rose its prices above two weeks high. However, pair failed to hold its gains and started to drop in late-session but managed to end its day with a bullish candle.

On the other hand, the greenback lost its demand in the absence of any significant economic data. Only Housing Starts in the month of April were released from the U.S. on Tuesday, which declined to 0.89M against the 0.95 forecasted and weighed on the U.S. dollar.

Meanwhile, the Fed Chair Jerome Powell also refrained from providing any specific surprising remarks about the economy or policy outlook and hence kept the U.S. dollar under pressure. He said that the Fed would remain committed to using its all tools to recover the U.S. economy from a corona-induced crisis. U.S. Dollar Index fell near 99.50 level on that day.

Daily Support and Resistance

R3 1.1089
R2 1.1008
R1 1.0961

Pivot Point 1.088

S1 1.0833
S2 1.0752
S3 1.0705

EUR/USD– Trading Tip

The technical outlook for EUR/USD pair seems bullish as the pair is trading at 1.0938, having formed a bullish engulfing pattern above an immediate support level of 1.0918 level. On the 4 hour timeframe, the pair is also forming a higher high and higher low pattern, which can drive further buying trends in the EUR/USD pair. The MACD is bullish, while the 50 EMA is also supporting the bullish bias among traders. The pair has the potential to trade towards north to target 1.0993 triple top area while support holds at 1.0918 and 1.08850 level today.

GBP/USD – Daily Analysis

The GBP/USD prices were closed at 1.22482 after placing a high of 1.22961 and a low of 1.21839. Overall the movement of GBP/USD pair remained bullish throughout the day. The GBP/USD pair rose for 2nd consecutive day on Tuesday amid the broad-based U.S. dollar weakness and better than expected employment data from the U.K.

The U.S. dollar was already under pressure the previous day after the announcement of the Franco-German recovery fund proposal, which consists of 500 Billion euros. The increased risk appetite in the market also made the U.S. dollar weaker on Tuesday.

Furthermore, better than expected U.K. employment data on Tuesday gave strength to GBP and raised GBP/USD prices. The office for National Statistics reported that U.K. Unemployment Rate in April dropped to 3.9% from the expected 4.4% and supported GBP.

Despite the decreased unemployment rate, around 857K people filed for jobless claims in April against the forecasted 675K. The decreased unemployment rate, which covers three months to March, showed that unemployment might have fallen sharply during April considering the increased numbers of jobless claims that month.

Meanwhile, U.K. announced a new tariff regime for Brexit that will remove tariffs on 30 billion pounds worth of imports or about 60% worth of trading coming into the U.K. The latest tariff named U.K. Global Tariff (UKCT) will become effective from January 2021 when the transition period will end.

AT 11:00 GMT, the Claimant Count Change for April showed that almost 856.5K people applied for jobless benefit claims against the expectations of 675.0K and weighed on Sterling. At 11:02 GMT, the Average Earning Index for the quarter showed a decline to 2.4% from the expected 2.7% and weighed on U.S. Dollar. However, the Unemployment rate for March showed a decline to 3.9% against the anticipated 4.4% and supported Pound.

Daily Support and Resistance

R3 1.2411
R2 1.2319
R1 1.2257

Pivot Point 1.2166

S1 1.2104
S2 1.2013
S3 1.195

GBP/USD– Trading Tip

On Wednesday, the GBP/USD traded sharply bullish to trade at 1.2245 level despite the release of worse than expected Labor market reports from the U.K. At the moment, Cable faces resistance around 50 EMA, which holds at 1.2255 level. The closing of candles below 1.2260 can drive selling. Still, considering the recent bullish engulfing and long histograms of GBP/USD pair, we may see a continuation of a bullish trend in the Sterling. On the upper side, the violation of 1.2246 level may lead Sterling towards 1.2318 today.

USD/JPY – Daily Analysis

The USD/JPY pair was closed at 107.700 after placing a high of 108.086 and a low of 107.261. Overall the movement of the USD/JPY pair remained bullish throughout the day. The pair USD/JPY moved above 108.00 level on Tuesday, which was the one-month top-level amid increased risk-on market sentiment. The safe-haven Japanese Yen was under pressure after the latest optimism related to the encouraging initial results of coronavirus vaccine trials. Weaker Yen moved the USD/JPY pair in the opposite direction and made it to post gains above 108.00 level.

The intraday selling bias towards the Japanese Yen increased after the Bank of Japan called out for an unscheduled meeting on Friday. This fueled speculations that Bank would announce more easing measures.

The strong positive momentum due to weakened Yen lifted the USD/JPY prices to its highest level since April 13. However, the rally remained limited due to the rising concerns about the US-China relationship.

Another reason behind the limited rally on Tuesday was the fears about the second-wave of coronavirus. Senators questioned the Fed Chair Jerome Powell and the U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin about their stewardship of specific aspects of the $2 trillion package on Tuesday.

The Senate Banking Committee held its first look at spending under the package announced in March to assist people affected by the coronavirus pandemic. Mnuchin and Powell showed different perspectives on the economic outlook. Mnuchin remained optimistic and said that in the second half of 2020, the economy would see an upturn, while Powell suggested that congress might need more than trillions to aid the economy.

Daily Support and Resistance

R3 108.04
R2 107.78
R1 107.56

Pivot Point 107.3

S1 107.09
S2 106.82
S3 106.61

USD/JPY – Trading Tips

On Wednesday, the USD/JPY mostly remains mostly bearish following a bullish breakout of the choppy trading range of 107.480 – 107.029 level. For now, the pair is holding at 107.630, having immediate support around 107.500. Above this level, we may see USD/JPY prices heading towards the next resistance level of 108.130. The ascending triangle pattern has already been violated, and it’s expected to kee the USD/JPY supported around 107.500. So let’s consider taking buying trades over 107.500 today. All the best for today!

Hot Topics:

S. Core PPI (YoY) reaches the highest level since 2012.
Volatility moves towards Europe.
The pound rally continues due to the weakness of the dollar.
Jinping reduces risks of a Trade War.
Oil Brent reaches the highest level since 2014.

U.S. Core PPI (YoY) reaches the highest level since 2012.

The signs of strength in the economic growth of the United States continue, the Underlying Producer Price Index (YoY) reached 2.7% in the March period, the highest level since June 2012. The Core PPI (MoM) index, for its part, it reached 0.3% on the expectations of analysts who projected 0.2%. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 70% of the increase in final demand is attributed to a rise of 0.3% in the prices of final demand services, in the same way, transport and storage services for final demand increased by 0.6 %. The increases in the level of inflation for producers are expected to have an impact on the Consumer Price Index, which will be published this Thursday.

Despite these positive macroeconomic data, the greenback index continues its strong depreciation, which has lost 2.83% in the year. Today is closing with -0.25% of loses. We are paying attention to the zone between 89.15 and the 61.8% of Fibonacci retracement level, where the Index has found support.

Volatility moves towards Europe.

The risks of the Trade War between the United States and China are disappearing more and more with the bilateral attempts to resolve the conflict in a friendly way. However, in Europe, the scenario that seemed full of geopolitical stability is changing. This Sunday 08, Viktor Orban won the elections in Hungary for the fourth time in a row. With an utterly autocratic speech, the nationalist Prime Minister proposes an anti-immigrant policy and open attacks towards the European Union. Hungary refuses to comply with the agreed European migration policy, that is, accept quotas of Syrian refugees, in the same way as the United Kingdom raised in one of its arguments against Brexit. It should be added that Mr Orban is not alone in this political tendency; he has found allies in power in Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Italy. All of them are willing to reject the obligation to accept refugees and respect the right of free movement.

The euro has closed with gains for the third consecutive session with a 0.29% of advance. The pair shows a bullish move in the middle of a sideways formation. In the last trading session, the price has found resistance at 61.8% of Fibonacci retracement

The pound rally continues due to the weakness of the dollar.

The pound continues for the third consecutive session in a bullish rally advancing 0.64% in the week and has gained 0.35% in the last trading session. All this occurs in the context of the weakness of the dollar despite the excellent macroeconomic data of the United States. The level of support to be controlled is 1.4145; the key resistance level is 1.42 as a psychological level.

Jinping reduces risks of a Trade War.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has promised to reduce import tariffs by alleviating the fear generated by the escalation of bilateral tensions between the United States and China. In a speech held at the Boao Forum, President Jinping promised to open the Chinese economy further, protect the intellectual property of foreign companies. These words filled the market with optimism, leading the indexes to move positively, the Dow Jones Index advanced 1.48%, while the yen reduced its attractiveness as a refuge, leading the USD-JPY to close with 0.41% of earnings.

The USD-JPY pair is forming an ascending diagonal pattern, which still has space to follow a rally, the closest resistance levels are 107.49 and 108, and the support level to control is 106.64.

The Dow Jones index, which is within a descending channel, the price is for the control support level at 24,037.3 and is developing a possible upward diagonal formation whose closest resistance is at 24,630, a level that coincides with the Upper part of the bearish channel. Bullish positions are valued as long as they do not fall below the 23,749.3 level.

Oil Brent reaches the highest level since 2014.

The euphoria of the reduction of the economic tensions between the United States and China due to the sayings of Jinping, not only has motivated to the indices but also the oils. The Brent has reached its highest level since 2014, reaching the $ 71.03. Crude Oil, on the other hand, approached two-week highs reaching $ 65.76. The oil rally and the Dollar weakness also benefited to the pair USD-CAD (by inverse correlation) which closed at lowest levels since February testing the psychological level 1.26 approaching the level of Fibonacci retracement 61.8% at 1.2583.

Our central view for this highly correlated group has been bullish; but we currently prefer to maintain a neutral position considering that once the oils reach specific levels in the long term for their structures, they should make a significant corrective movement that will allow us to join to the trend. As long as Brent does not reach the area between $ 71.26 and $ 72.91, and Crude Oil does not come close to $ 69 and $ 70, we do not expect a start of a significative correction.

In the case of the USD-CAD pair, once it reaches the base of the channel, it is expected that a bullish move could begin.