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GBP/USD Mid-Day Outlook
Daily Pivots: (S1) 1.2205; (P) 1.2308; (R1) 1.2364; More...
With 1.2188 minor support intact, rebound from 1.1986 could still extend higher through 1.2432 resistance. But still, such rise is seen as the third leg of the consolidation pattern from 1.1946. Thus, we'd expect strong resistance at 1.2774 to limit upside and bring down trend resumption eventually. On the downside, below 1.2188 minor support will turn bias to the downside for retesting 1.1946 low.
In the bigger picture, fall from 1.7190 is seen as part of the down trend from 2.1161. There is no sign of medium term bottoming yet. Sustained trading below 61.8% projection of 2.1161 to 1.3503 from 1.7190 at 1.2457 will target 100% projection at 0.9532. Overall, break of 1.3444 resistance is needed to confirm medium term bottoming. Otherwise, outlook will remain bearish.


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USD/CHF Mid-Day Outlook
Daily Pivots: (S1) 1.0028; (P) 1.0051; (R1) 1.0096; More.....
With 1.0135 minor resistance intact, deeper fall could still be seen in USD/CHF. Rise from 0.9443 could have completed at 1.0342 already, after failing to sustain above 1.0327 key resistance. Deeper fall would be seen back to 0.9443/9548 support zone. On the upside, above 1.0135 minor resistance will turn focus back to 1.0342 resistance instead.
In the bigger picture, rejection from 1.0327 resistance suggests that consolidation pattern from there is still in progress. Fall from 1.0342 is seen as the third leg and retest of 0.9443/9548 support zone could be seen. But we'd expect strong support from there to contain downside. At this point, we're still extend the larger rally to resume later to 38.2% retracement of 1.8305 to 0.7065 at 1.1359.


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USD/JPY Mid-Day Outlook
Daily Pivots: (S1) 113.21; (P) 113.98; (R1) 115.40; More...
Breaching 115.43 minor resistance suggests that pull back from 118.65 is completed at 112.56 already. Intraday bias is turned back to the upside for retesting 118.65 first. Break will resume whole rise from 98.97 and target 125.85 key resistance. In case of another fall, we'd expect strong support from 38.2% retracement of 98.97 to 118.65 at 111.13 to contain downside and bring rebound.
In the bigger picture, price actions from 125.85 high are seen as a corrective pattern. The impulsive structure of the rise from 98.97 suggests that the correction is completed and larger up trend is resuming. Decisive break of 125.85 will confirm and target 61.8% projection of 75.56 to 125.85 from 98.97 at 130.04 and then 135.20 long term resistance. Rejection from 125.85 and below will extend the consolidation with another falling leg before up trend resumption.


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EUR/USD Mid-Day Outlook
Daily Pivots: (S1) 1.0600; (P) 1.0657 (R1) 1.0685; More.....
EUR/USD retreated after hitting 38.2% retracement of 1.1298 to 1.0339. Intraday bias is turned neutral first. Rebound from 1.0339 is seen as a corrective move. Below 1.0453 will argue that it's completed and turn bias back to the downside for 1.0339 support. Break there will extend the larger down trend towards parity. In case of another rise, we'd expect upside to be limited by 1.0872 resistance and bring reversal.
In the bigger picture, whole down trend from 1.6039 (2008 high) is in progress. Such down trend is expected to extend to 61.8% projection of 1.3993 to 1.0461 from 1.1298 at 0.9115. On the upside, break of 1.1298 resistance is needed to confirm medium term bottoming. Otherwise, outlook will stay bearish in case of rebound.


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ECB Stands Pat as Widely Expected, Dollar Recovers on Data
ECB kept the main refinancing rate at 0.00% and deposit rate at -0.4% as widely expected. There is also no change to the asset purchase program. The central bank extended the program to December 2017, buying EUR 60b a month. ECB president Mario Draghi noted in the post meeting press conference that "there are no signs yet of a convincing upward trend in underlying inflation." He emphasized that "a very substantial degree of monetary accommodation is needed for euro area inflation pressures to build up and support headline inflation in the medium term". Meanwhile, growth would be "dampened" by "sluggish pace of structural reform" in the region. Euro lost much momentum against Dollar and Sterling and is trading mildly lower. Also from Europe, Eurozone current account surplus widened to EUR 36.1b in November. UK RICS house price balance dropped to 24 in December. Swiss PPI rose 0.2% mom, 0.0% yoy in December.
Economic data from US are generally strong and is providing Dollar mild strength for rebound. Initial jobless claims dropped 1.5k to 234k in the week ended January 14, below expectation of 251k. Four-week moving average of initial claims dropped 10.25k to 246.75k, lowest since November 1973. That's also the 98 straight week of sub 300k reading, longest streak since 1970. Continuing claims dropped 47k to 2.05m in the week ended January 7. Housing starts jumped 11.3% to 1.23m annualized rate in December, above expectation of 1.19m. Building permits rose to 1.21m but misse3d expectation of 1.22. Philly Fed survey rose to 23.6 in January, above expectation of 16.
Released from Canada, manufacturing shipments rose 1.5% mom in November. International securities transactions dropped to CAD 7.24b in November. BoC left its overnight rate unchanged at 0.5% yesterday. Yet, it delivered a more dovish than expected message and sent CAD to a one-week low against USD. At the press conference, Governor Stephen Poloz revealed that 'Governing Council was particularly concerned about the ramifications of U.S. trade policy, because it is so fundamental to the Canadian economy'. He suggested that further rate cut cannot be ruled out of US' protectionist policy puts BOC's inflation target at risk. More in BOC Sent Dovish Message On Concerns Over Trump's Protectionist Policy.
Released earlier today, New Zealand business NZ manufacturing index rose to 54.5 in December, building permits dropped -9.2% mom in November. Australia employment rose 13.5k in December but unemployment rate rose to 5.8%.
EUR/USD Mid-Day Outlook
Daily Pivots: (S1) 1.0600; (P) 1.0657 (R1) 1.0685; More.....
EUR/USD retreated after hitting 38.2% retracement of 1.1298 to 1.0339. Intraday bias is turned neutral first. Rebound from 1.0339 is seen as a corrective move. Below 1.0453 will argue that it's completed and turn bias back to the downside for 1.0339 support. Break there will extend the larger down trend towards parity. In case of another rise, we'd expect upside to be limited by 1.0872 resistance and bring reversal.
In the bigger picture, whole down trend from 1.6039 (2008 high) is in progress. Such down trend is expected to extend to 61.8% projection of 1.3993 to 1.0461 from 1.1298 at 0.9115. On the upside, break of 1.1298 resistance is needed to confirm medium term bottoming. Otherwise, outlook will stay bearish in case of rebound.


Economic Indicators Update
| GMT | Ccy | Events | Actual | Consensus | Previous | Revised |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21:30 | NZD | Business NZ Manufacturing Index Dec | 54.5 | 54.4 | 54.5 | |
| 21:45 | NZD | Building Permits M/M Nov | -9.20% | 2.60% | 2.00% | |
| 00:00 | AUD | Consumer Inflation Expectation Jan | 4.30% | 3.40% | ||
| 00:01 | GBP | RICS House Price Balance Dec | 24% | 30% | 30% | 29% |
| 00:30 | AUD | Employment Change Dec | 13.5k | 10k | 39.1k | |
| 00:30 | AUD | Unemployment Rate Dec | 5.80% | 5.70% | 5.70% | |
| 08:15 | CHF | Producer & Import Prices M/M Dec | 0.20% | 0.20% | 0.10% | |
| 08:15 | CHF | Producer & Import Prices Y/Y Dec | 0.00% | 0.10% | -0.60% | |
| 09:00 | EUR | Eurozone Current Account (EUR) Nov | 36.1B | 29.3B | 28.4B | 28.3B |
| 12:45 | EUR | ECB Rate Decision | 0.00% | 0.00% | 0.00% | |
| 13:30 | CAD | International Securities Transactions (CAD) Nov | 7.24B | 10.23B | 15.75B | 15.77B |
| 13:30 | CAD | Manufacturing Shipments M/M Nov | 1.50% | 1.00% | -0.80% | -0.60% |
| 13:30 | USD | Initial Jobless Claims (JAN 14) | 234K | 251k | 247k | 249K |
| 13:30 | USD | Housing Starts Dec | 1.23M | 1.19M | 1.09M | |
| 13:30 | USD | Building Permits Dec | 1.21M | 1.22M | 1.20M | |
| 13:30 | USD | Philly Fed Manufacturing Index Jan | 23.6 | 16 | 21.5 | |
| 15:30 | USD | Natural Gas Storage | -151B | |||
| 16:00 | USD | Crude Oil Inventories | 4.1M |
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BOC Sent Dovish Message On Concerns Over Trump’s Protectionist Policy
As expected, BOC left its overnight rate unchanged at 0.5% in January. Yet, it delivered a more dovish than expected message and sent CAD to a one-week low against USD. At the press conference, Governor Stephen Poloz revealed that 'Governing Council was particularly concerned about the ramifications of U.S. trade policy, because it is so fundamental to the Canadian economy'. He suggested that further rate cut cannot be ruled out of US' protectionist policy puts BOC's inflation target at risk.
Both the accompanying statement and Poloz's opening statement at the press conference stressed the uncertainty about the global economic outlook is a concern to Canada's growth outlook and BOC's monetary policy stance. As noted in the meeting statement, 'uncertainty about the global outlook is undiminished, particularly with respect to policies in the United States'. Poloz elaborated at the press conference that the members were 'particularly concerned about the ramifications of US trade policy, because it is so fundamental to the Canadian economy'. Yet, BOC's initial assumption was that fiscal stimulus, 'specifically, corporate and personal tax cuts that would raise the level of US GDP by about 0.5% in 2018'. On the exchange rate, BOC acknowledged the recent strength in Canada dollar, alongside the USD rally, warning that the phenomenon is 'exacerbating ongoing competitiveness challenges and muting the outlook for exports'.
On the macroeconomic outlook, BOC expect the economy to expand above trend in 2017 and 2018. It has revised higher Canada's GDP growth to +1.3% in 2016, from +1.1% previously, before accelerating to +2.1% in 2017 (previous: +2%) and steadying at the same rate in 2018. BOC continues to expect the economy to reach full capacity around mid-2018. Consumer spending would remain 'solid' and would remain the key growth driver this year, with the help of Federal and provincial fiscal measures. Net trade is expected to be neutral for growth, while business investment and housing would be 'tempered by previously announced changes to housing finance rules and by mortgage rates that have risen in response to higher bond yields'. While acknowledging the undershooting of inflation since October, BOC did not seem very concerned about slow pace. According to BOC, 'as consumer energy prices rise and the impact of lower food prices dissipates, inflation is expected to move close to the 2% target in the months ahead and remain there throughout the projection horizon while excess capacity is being absorbed'.
BOC judged that it is appropriate to maintain the overnight rate at 0.5% and pledged to 'assess the impact of ongoing developments, mindful of the significant uncertainties weighing on the outlook'. At the press conference, Poloz pledged that a rate cut remains on the table and 'it would remain on the table as long as those downside risks were still present'. For now, we retain the view that BOC would leave the monetary policy on hold throughout the year.



GBP/JPY Daily Outlook
Daily Pivots: (S1) 139.56; (P) 140.12; (R1) 141.10; More...
Intraday bias in GBP/JPY remains neutral for the moment with a temporary low in place at 136.44. Deeper decline is still expected with 142.16 support turned resistance intact. Whole corrective rise from 122.36 could have completed at 148.42. Below 136.44 will target 61.8% retracement of 122.36 to 148.42 at 132.31 and below. Though, above 142.16 will turn focus back to 148.42 high instead.
In the bigger picture, price actions from 122.36 medium term bottom are seen as developing into a corrective pattern. Upside is so far limited by 38.2% retracement of 195.86 to 122.36 at 150.4 for setting the medium term range. At this point, we don't expect a break of 122.36 in near term and the corrective pattern would extend for a while.


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EUR/JPY Daily Outlook
Daily Pivots: (S1) 120.95; (P) 121.46; (R1) 122.37; More...
A temporary low is in place at 120.54 in EUR/JPY after drawing support from 55 day EMA and intraday bias is turned neutral first. Break of 122.41 will argue that the correction from 124.08 has completed. More importantly, that will indicate that rebound from 109.20 is still in progress. In that case, intraday bias will be turned to the upside for 124.08 and then 126.09 key resistance. Below 120.54 will bring deeper fall to 118.45 cluster support (38.2% retracement of 109.20 to 124.08 at 118.39).
In the bigger picture, price actions from 109.20 medium term bottom are seen as part of a medium term corrective pattern from 149.76. There is prospect of another rise towards 126.09 key resistance level before completion. But even in that case, we'd expect strong resistance between 126.09 and 141.04 to limit upside, at least on first attempt. Sustained trading below 55 day EMA will pave the way to retest 109.20.


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EUR/GBP Daily Outlook
Daily Pivots: (S1) 0.8758; (P) 0.8804; (R1) 0.8847; More...
Intraday bias in EUR/GBP remains neutral for the moment. Rise from 0.8303 is seen as a corrective move, the second leg of consolidation pattern from 0.9304. In case of another rise, break of 61.8% retracement of 0.9304 to 0.8303 at 0.8922 would be seen. But we'll be cautious on topping above 0.8922. On the downside, break of 0.8449 will likely start the third leg through 0.8303 low.
In the bigger picture, price actions from 0.9304 are viewed as a medium term corrective pattern. Deeper fall cannot be ruled out yet. But we'd expect strong support around 55 weeks EMA (now at 0.8260) to contain downside. Overall, the corrective pattern would take some time to complete before long term up trend resumes at a later stage. Break of 0.9304 will pave the way to 0.9799 (2008 high).


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EUR/AUD Daily Outlook
Daily Pivots: (S1) 1.4119; (P) 1.4154; (R1) 1.4194; More...
No change in EUR/AUD's outlook. At this point, there is no clear indication of resumption of larger decline yet. Above 1.4332 support turned resistance will turn bias back to the upside to extend recent sideway trading. Nonetheless, decisive break of 1.4072 low will extend the correction from 1.6587 towards next key support level 1.3671.
In the bigger picture, price actions from 1.6587 medium term top are viewed as a consolidative pattern. 50% retracement of 1.1602 to 1.6587 at 1.4095 was already met. While further fall cannot be ruled out, we'd expect strong support above 1.3671 to contain downside and bring rebound. Up trend from 1.1602 should not be finished and will resume later. Break of 1.4880 resistance will be the first sign of resumption of up trend from 1.1602 and target retesting of 1.6587 resistance first.


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