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ECB Vice President Luis de Guindos said in an interview, "we will continue raising rates to a level that ensures inflation will come back into line with our definition of price stability". The level will depend on " data that we receive, the evolution of inflation, economic conditions, demand, and energy prices."

He expected inflation to hover around its present level of 10.7% "hover the next few months". Inflation will then "start to decline in the first half of next year". Quarterly GDP growth in Q4 will be "negative", and to continue in Q1. This "technical recession" is not expected to be "very profound".

On the topic of quantitative tightening, de Guindos said ECB will start it "sooner or later, for sure in 2023". It must be implemented with "a lot prudence". He expects to start with a "passive QT by not fully reinvesting the maturing securities in our portfolio.". The "characteristics and the timing" of QT will be discussed in December. QT may overlap or not with normalization of interest rates.

Full interview here.

Daily Pivots: (S1) 1.3454; (P) 1.3503; (R1) 1.3541; More....

Intraday bias in USD/CAD remains on the downside for the moment. A head and should top pattern (1.3832; h: 1.3976; rs: 1.3807) should be formed already. Sustained trading below 1.3494 will confirm, and bring deeper fall to .3207 cluster support (61.8% retracement of 1.2726 to 1.3976 at 1.3204. Strong support should be seen there to bring rebound. But for now, risk will stay on the downside as long as 1.3807 resistance holds, in case of recovery.

In the bigger picture, up trend from 1.2005 (2021 low) is still in progress. Based on current impulsive momentum, it could be resuming long term up trend from 0.9056 (2007 low). Whether it is or it isn't, retest of 1.4689 (2016 high) should be seen next. This will now remain the favored case as long as 1.3222 resistance turned support holds.

Daily Pivots: (S1) 0.6428; (P) 0.6460; (R1) 0.6512; More...

Intraday bias in AUD/USD stays neutral for the moment. On the upside, decisive break of 0.6521 resistance will now complete a head and shoulder bottom pattern (ls: 0.6362; h: 0.6169; rs: 0.6271). That would also come with sustained trading above 55 day EMA (now at 0.6529). Further rally should then be seen to 0.6680/7315 resistance zone next. On the downside, however, break of 0.6271 will bring retest of 0.6169 low instead.

In the bigger picture, down trend from 0.8006 (2021 high) is expected to continue as long as 0.6680 support turned resistance holds. Medium term momentum remains strong and retest of 0.5506 (2020 low) cannot be ruled out. But firm break of 0.6680 will be the first sign of reversal, and bring stronger rebound back to 0.7135 resistance.

Daily Pivots: (S1) 0.9939; (P) 0.9987; (R1) 1.0068; More...

Intraday bias in EUR/USD remains neutral for the moment. On the upside, firm break of 1.0092 will resume the rebound from 0.9534. Next target is 1.0368 resistance. On the downside, break of 0.9729 will reaffirm the case the corrective rise from 0.9534 has completed at 1.0092. Deeper fall would then be seen to retest 0.9534 low next.

In the bigger picture, medium term outlook stays bearish with trading inside the falling channel. That is larger down trend from 1.2348 (2021 high) is still in progress. Firm break of 0.9534 low will confirm this bearish case. However, break of 1.0092 will add to the case of medium term bottoming, on bullish convergence condition in daily MACD, and bring further rally towards 55 week EMA (now at 1.0583).

Daily Pivots: (S1) 1.1356; (P) 1.1449; (R1) 1.1607; More...

Intraday bias in GBP/USD stays neutral at this point. On the upside, break of 1.1644 will resume the whole rise from 1.0351 and target 1.1759/2292 resistance zone. On the downside, break of 1.1145 will reaffirm the case that corrective rise from 1.0351 has completed at 1.1644. Deeper fall would then be seen back to 1.0922 support and below.

In the bigger picture, fall from 1.4248 (2018 high) is part of the long term down trend from 2.1161 (2007 high). Outlook will stay bearish as long as 1.1759 support turned resistance holds. Parity would be the next target on resumption. Nevertheless, firm break of 1.1759 will confirm medium term bottoming, and open up stronger rise back to 55 week EMA (now at 1.2357).

Daily Pivots: (S1) 146.02; (P) 147.21; (R1) 147.86; More...

Intraday bias in USD/JPY stays neutral as consolidation from 151.93 is still extending. In case of deeper fall, downside should be contained by 38.2% retracement of 130.38 to 151.93 at 143.69 to bring rebound. On the upside, above 149.69 minor resistance will bring stronger rebound back towards 151.93 high. But upside should be limited there to continue the corrective pattern.

In the bigger picture, up trend from 101.18 is still in progress, as part of the whole up trend from 75.56 (2011 low). 147.68 (1998 high) was already met and there is no clearly sign of topping yet. In any case, break of 140.33 support is needed to be the first sign of medium term topping. Otherwise, further rise is in favor to next target at 160.16 (1990 high).

The Dow Jones 30 rallies as Republicans are favoured to win the midterm elections. The index slowed down near 33000, at the start of a sell-off in late August. Profit-taking was not enough to drive the price south, which suggests robust pressure from the buy side. A close above 33000 would shake out remaining selling interests and pave the way for a rally to August’s peak at 34200, which is the boundary between a bear and a bull market. In the meantime, an overbought RSI may limit the upside with 32400 as the closest support.

The euro steadies as a survey showed that investor morale in the euro zone improved. A sharp rise is a sign of short-covering and a close above the supply zone around 0.8760 may have eased the pressure on the single currency. This might offer the bulls hopes that the uptrend is still intact in the medium-term. The RSI’s double top in the overbought area caused a pullback as intraday buyers took profit. 0.8650 is an important level to expect follow-up interests. A rally back above 0.8780 would confirm a bullish continuation.

The New Zealand dollar inches higher over rising inflation expectations. The latest pullback has found solid support over 0.5740, near the base of a bullish breakout. A higher high above 0.5900 indicates that the bulls have retained control of the direction. A bullish MA cross on the daily chart foreshadows an acceleration to the upside. The psychological level of 0.6000 is a key hurdle ahead. Its breach could trigger an extended rally towards 0.6160. 0.5820 is the first support in case the kiwi needs some breathing room.

A cautious start to trading on Tuesday, with investors seemingly having one eye on midterm results in the US and another on Thursday's inflation data.

It's hard to see past both of these things this week. The question for many is whether investors will respond positively to the deadlock in Washington. On the one hand, the prospect of less spending could be viewed as aiding the inflation fight but on the other, the economy could be headed for recession, and inaction in government won't help the situation.

The Republicans are strongly favoured to take back control of the House and with the Senate currently split, they are likely to edge that as well meaning Biden's economic agenda will come to a standstill ahead of the 2024 election.

Arguably the most important takeaway from the midterms will be how Trump-supporting Republicans fare, particularly those so fiercely sticking to the "stolen election" line, among others. With Trump himself due to make a "big announcement" soon, it would appear he's about to throw his hat into the ring and declare any victories a show of support for his own nomination.

With the US likely heading for recession, whoever wins the Republican race stands a good chance of winning the race in 2024. It may now become a question of how much of a grip Trump still has on the Republican party and whether the manner of his exit will prove to be a barrier or a supportive factor within the base.

Of course, the more pressing issue in the near term is inflation and so, regardless of the midterm results, we may still see some trepidation in the markets ahead of Thursday's release. The Fed has made clear it intends to slow the pace of tightening in December and this data could either throw that into question or start to build the case for a lower terminal rate than the central bank hinted at last week.

Oil pares gains as China COVID-19 cases jump

Oil prices are easing a little on Tuesday, a day after Brent crude came within a whisker of $100 again. It's traded below this major psychological level since July but recent developments have propelled the price higher again, up more than 20% from the September lows.

OPEC+ had a big hand to play in that but speculation around China's zero-Covid commitment may also be a factor in recent gains. That said, those rumours still haven't been confirmed and in fact, outbreaks in Guangzhou and other major cities have led to increased restrictions. It may be a little early to get carried away with speculation, especially when any significant change in policy would represent an enormous shift from the status quo. Still, the performance of Chinese stocks suggests there's a belief that there's no smoke without fire, which may also be enabling the continued rise in crude.

Gold edges lower amid a stronger the Dollar

The dollar is staging a small recovery around its recent lows which is weighing a little on gold this week. The yellow metal surged late last week following the jobs report before stumbling around $1,680 which has previously been a notable level of resistance. Still, it's holding onto the bulk of those gains quite well which suggests traders are anticipating some good news from the inflation data on Thursday, at least good enough to convince the Fed of the need to slow the pace of tightening next month.

Anything that suggests they won't need to rise as high as the Fed indicated could give gold another boost. Although given what the central bank said last week, you have to wonder if they are in fact anticipating another stubborn reading.

Bitcoin plunges below $20,000

It's been a rough couple of days for bitcoin which finds itself back below $20,000 and down more than 4% on the day. It has recovered a little after previously being off more than 6% but this is a far more severe decline than we're seeing in other risk assets which may be a worrying sign for crypto bulls. The declines may be linked to the plunge in FTT which nosedived amid reported concerns over Alameda's balance sheet. We've seen this kind of situation have ripple effects on prices before and this may explain the sharper declines we're seeing this week.