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Eco Data 1/21/19

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Forex Forecast and Cryptocurrencies Forecast

First, a review of last week’s events:

EUR/USD. One of the scenarios suggested that the pair would return to the limits of the medium-term lateral channel 1.1300-1.1500, and its central line was called as the main target. It is this scenario that was brought to life. It was already on Tuesday, January 15, that the pair reached the horizon of 1.1400 and then moved along its length up to the weekend, making oscillations in a fairly narrow range. At the same time, the pair was under constant pressure, which allowed the bears to lower it to the level of 1.1360 by the end of the working week.

The euro is falling for a number of reasons: this is the weak economic indicators of the Eurozone (first of all, Germany), and the decline in export potential, and chaos with Brexit. At the same time, an active game to increase the British pound has been underway recently, which also did not benefit the European currency;

GBP/USD. Against the background of talk about a possible postponement of the UK’s exit from the EU and even the possibility of a second referendum, the game to raise the pound after the failure of Prime Minister Theresa May during the Brexit vote was particularly well seen in pairs such as EUR/GBP and GBP/CHF. As for the pound against the US dollar, having fought off on Tuesday from the level of 1.2667, it managed to rise by more than 330 points by Thursday, reaching a symbolic height of 1.3000. After that, there followed a strong rebound, and the pair ended the week almost at the same place where it started, in the zone of 1.2870;

USD/JPY. The balance that emerged a week ago between the attractiveness of the yen as a safe haven and investors' interest in riskier, but also more promising investments, shifted towards the latter. As a result, the pair quotes went up, and by the end of the week, 109.76 yen were already being paid for the dollar;

Cryptocurrencies. Paraphrasing the name of a famous novel, one can say: "All Quiet on the Crypto Front" Among the positive news is the plans of the Thailand Stock Exchange to obtain a license for operations with digital assets. However, the timing of this initiative is not yet known. The Constantinople hard fork in the Ethereum network is postponed indefinitely until the elimination of vulnerabilities. In general, there reigns a complete uncertainty. Even the ETC tokens stolen from the Gate.io Exchange were for some reason returned back by the attackers without explaining the reasons for their action.

On this blurred news background, the pair BTC/USD is flat. At the same time, the range of its oscillations, starting from Wednesday, is continuously decreasing. Following Bitcoin, Litecoin, Ripple, and other top altcoins also moved to the lateral movement. And even Ethereum managed to partially recover the loss. As a result, the decline in the ETH/USD pair in seven days was only about 5%.

As for the forecast for the coming week, summarizing the opinions of a number of analysts, as well as forecasts made on the basis of a variety of methods of technical and graphical analysis, we can say the following:

EUR/USD. Major investor concerns related to European currency have been listed above. However, not everything is so bad in Europe. Due to the low euro exchange rate, the PMI activity index no longer falls, and many factors point to the stabilization of the eurozone economy. In addition, the market is waiting for the promised ECB interest rate increase in early autumn 2019. As for the US dollar, here, on the contrary, the likelihood of another rate increase in the near term is practically nil. Further growth of the economy is also questionable. Experts believe that the political crisis and the current cessation of government work could lead to a fall in annual GDP of 0.5-0.75%.

All this allows 45% of analysts to talk about the possible strengthening of the euro and the upcoming trend change from bearish to bullish. The immediate goal is the central line of the two-month ascending channel in the 1.1450 zone, then the levels of 1.1500 and 1.1570. 15% of oscillators that give signals that the pair is oversold are in agreement with this scenario.

The remaining 85% of the oscillators, as well as 100% of the trend indicators on H4 and D1, are colored red. 55% of the experts Insist on the further decline of the pair as well. The support levels are 1.1300, 1.1270 and 1.1215.

The ECB decision on interest rates on Thursday, January 24 can be noted among the events of the upcoming week. However, with almost one hundred percent probability the rate will remain unchanged, and therefore this decision will not affect the quotes of the pair. Of much more interest is the speech of Prime Minister Theresa May at the Parliament of Great Britain, where she should announce her backup plan for leaving the country from the EU;

GBP/USD. Naturally, everything connected with Brexit directly affects the quotes of the pound. And here there are plenty of options for further developments, which makes the British currency a risky and unpredictable asset.

What is the probability of elections? Will the May government change to the Corbin government? How possible is the hard “divorce” scenario with the European Union? And will the timing of “divorce” be postponed in accordance with Article 50 of the EU Treaty? Is there any chance of a new referendum? And wouldn't this referendum be the reason for large-scale protests and riots?

Questions, questions, questions ... And the complete uncertainty, which is fertile ground for rumors and all sorts of speculations. In such circumstances, 40% of experts believe that the pair still has potential for growth, 40% are waiting for it to fall, and the remaining 20% advise to wait for greater clarity, carefully watching the developments.

Support is in zones 1.2800-1.2830 and 1.2615-1.2645. Resistance levels are 1.2920, 1.3000 and 1.3070;

USD/JPY. Most experts (60%), in agreement with 90% of oscillators, expect the continuation of capital outflows towards riskier assets and a fall in the yen. In this case, the pair can rise to a height of 110.30, and then another 100 -130 points higher - to a strong support/resistance level of 2017-18. in the zone 111.55.

An alternative point of view is supported by 40% of analysts, graphical analysis on D1 and 10% of oscillators, signaling the pair is overbought. The main support levels are 109.00 and 107.75;

Cryptocurrencies. For the whole past week, the BTC/USD pair was trading in a very narrow range of $3,570-3,800. Very often, such a lull is a harbinger of strong price movements. 45% of analysts believe that the pair will try to break through the lower boundary of this channel, and, if successful, it is expected to decline to the lows of 2018 in the zone of $3,200-3,250. A bit more experts (55%), on the contrary, expect a rebound upwards. The goal is to return the pair to $3,850-4,215. The reason for this optimism is a certain increase in the capitalization of the crypto market, which, compared with January 13, increased by about 5%, approaching the mark of $130 billion.

EUR/USD Weekly Outlook

EUR/USD's decline last week argues that corrective rise from 1.1215 has completed earlier than expected at 1.1569. Initial bias is now on the downside this week for 1.1307 support first. Break there will affirm this bearish case and target 1.1215 low next. On the upside, though, break of 1.1450 minor resistance will mix up the outlook again and turn bias neutral.

In the bigger picture, as long as 1.1814 resistance holds, down trend down trend from 1.2555 medium term top is still in progress and should target 61.8% retracement of 1.0339 (2017 low) to 1.2555 at 1.1186 next. Sustained break there will pave the way to retest 1.0339. However, break of 1.1814 will confirm completion of such down trend and turn medium term outlook bullish.

In the long term picture, the rejection from 38.2% retracement of 1.6039 to 1.0339 at 1.2516 argues that long term down trend from 1.6039 (2008 high) might not be over yet. EUR/USD is also held below decade long trend line resistance. Firm break of 61.8% retracement of 1.0339 to 1.2555 at 1.1186 should at least bring a retest on 1.0339 low. This will remain the favored case as long as 1.1814 resistance holds.

USD/JPY Weekly Outlook

USD/JPY's rebound from 104.69 extended to as high as 109.89 last week and turned out to be stronger than expected. Initial bias stay on the upside this week for 61.8% retracement of 114.54 to 104.69 at 110.77. We'd look for topping signal above there. On the downside, break of 107.77 minor support is needed to confirm completion of the rebound. Otherwise, further rise remains in favor even in case of retreat.

In the bigger picture, price actions from 125.85 (2015 high) are seen as a long term corrective pattern, no change in this view. Apparently, such corrective pattern is not completed yet. Fall from 114.54 is seen as part of the falling leg from 118.65 (2016 high). Break of 104.62 will target 100% projection of 118.65 to 104.62 from 114.54 at 100.51, which is close to 100 psychological level. But in that case, we'd expect strong support from 98.97 to contain downside to bring reversal. Also, this bearish case will remain the preferred one as long as 114.54 resistance holds.

In the long term picture, the rise from 75.56 (2011 low) long term bottom to 125.85 (2015 high) is viewed as an impulsive move, no change in this view. Price actions from 125.85 are seen as a corrective move which could still extend. In case of deeper fall, downside should be contained by 61.8% retracement of 75.56 to 125.85 at 94.77. Up trend from 75.56 is expected to resume at a later stage for above 135.20/147.68 resistance zone.

GBP/USD Weekly Outlook

GBP/USD's corrective rise from 1.2391 extended to 1.3001 last week but formed a temporary top there and retreated. Initial bias is neutral this week for some consolidations first. Further rally is expected as long as 1.2668 minor support holds. On the upside, above 1.3001 will target 1.3174 resistance, which is close to 38.2% retracement of 1.4376 to 1.2391 at 1.3149. We'd expect strong resistance from there to limit upside, at least on first attempt. On the downside, break of 1.2668 support will argue that such rebound is completed and turn bias back to the downside for retesting 1.2391 low.

In the bigger picture, whole medium term rebound from 1.1946 (2016 low) should have completed at 1.4376 already, after rejection from 55 month EMA. The structure and momentum of the fall from 1.4376 argues that it's resuming long term down trend from 2.1161 (2007 high). And this will remain the preferred case as long as 1.3174 structural resistance holds. GBP/USD should target a test on 1.1946 first. Decisive break there will confirm our bearish view. However, sustained break of 1.3174 will invalidate this case and turn outlook bullish.

In the longer term picture, outlook in GBP/USD remains bearish. Rebound from 1.1946 was rejected solidly by falling 55 month EMA. The pair was limited well below 38.2% retracement of 2.1161 (2007 high) to 1.1946, as well as the decade long falling trend line. On break of 1.1946, next target will be 61.8% projection of 1.7190 to 1.1946 from 1.4376 at 1.1135.

USD/CHF Weekly Outlook

USD/CHF's strong rebound and decisive break of the near term falling channel suggests that corrective pull back from 1.0128 has completed at 0.9716 already. Initial bias remains on the upside this week. Firm break of 0.9963 will confirm this bullish case and target retesting 1.0128 high. Also, in case of retreat, break of 0.9856 is needed to confirm completion of the rebound. Otherwise, further rise will remain in favor.

In the bigger picture, USD/CHF drew strong support from medium term trend line and rebounded. That suggests rise from 0.9186 is still in progress. Break of 0.9963 will affirm this bullish case. Further break of 1.0128 will confirm up trend resumption and target 1.0342 key resistance. Nevertheless, break of 0.9716 will dampen this bullish view and at least bring deeper fall to 0.9541 key support.

In the long term picture, price actions from 0.7065 (2011 low) are not clearly impulsive yet. Thus, we'll treat it as developing into a corrective pattern, at least, until a firm break of 1.0342 resistance.

AUD/USD Weekly Outlook

AUD/USD stayed in consolidation below 0.7235 last week and outlook is unchanged. Initial bias remains neutral this week first. As long as 0.7116 minor support holds, further rally is in favor. On the upside, break of 0.7235 will target 0.7393 resistance. We'd expect strong resistance from there to limit upside. On the downside, break of 0.7116 minor support will suggest completion of rebound from 0.6722. Intraday bias will then be turned back to the downside for retesting this low.

In the bigger picture, the failure to sustain below 0.6826 (2016 low) suggests that the long term down trend is not ready to resume yet. But prior rejection by 55 week EMA indicates underlying medium term bearishness in the pair. Outlook will also stay bearish as long as 0.7393 resistance holds. On the downside, sustained break of 0.6826 will target 0.6008 (2008 low).

In the longer term picture, prior rejection by 55 month EMA maintained long term bearishness in AUD/USD. That is, down trend from 1.1079 (2011 high) is still in progress. Sustained break of 0.6826 will target 0.6008 low and then 61.8% projection of 1.1079 to 0.6826 from 0.8135 at 0.5507.

USD/CAD Weekly Outlook

USD/CAD stayed in consolidation above 1.3180 temporary low last week and outlook is unchanged. Initial bias remains neutral this week first. With 1.3323 minor resistance intact, further decline is expected. On the downside, break of 1.3180 will resume the fall from 1.3664 to 61.8% retracement of 1.2781 to 1.3664 at 1.3118. We'll start look for bottoming sign below there. On the upside, above 1.3323 will suggest short term bottoming and turn bias back to the upside for stronger rebound.

In the bigger picture, the medium term rise from 1.2061 (2017 low) might continue further. But the structure of such rise is not clearly impulsive so far. Hence, we'd stay cautious on strong resistance from 61.8% retracement of 1.4689 (2016 high) to 1.2061 at 1.3685 and 1.3793 resistance to limit upside, and bring medium term topping. But in any case, medium term outlook will stay bullish as long as channel support (now at 1.3036) holds. Sustained break of 1.3793 will pave the way to retest 1.4689 (2015 high).

In the longer term picture, corrective fall from 1.4689 (2015 high) should have completed with three waves down to 1.2061, just ahead of 50% retracement of 0.9406 (2011 low) to 1.4689 (2015 high) at 1.2048. The development keeps long term up trend from 0.9406 and that from 0.9056 (2007 low) intact. For now, there is prospect of extending the long term up trend to 61.8% projection of 0.9406 to 1.4689 from 1.2061 at 1.5326 in medium to long term.

GBP/JPY Weekly Outlook

GBP/JPY's rise from 131.51 extended to as high as 142.22 last week and broke 139.88 resistance. Such rebound turned out to be stronger than originally expected. For now, further rise is expected as long as 137.35 minor support holds. Rebound from 131.51 will target 1423.93 resistance first. Break will pave the way to 149.48 resistance next.

In the bigger picture, corrective medium term rise from 122.36 (2016 low) has completed at 156.69 (2018 high) already. That came after failing to break through 55 month EMA. No change in this view. Strong rebound from 131.51 argues that fall from 156.59 is just the second leg of the corrective pattern from 122.36. Break of 149.38 resistance will confirm the third leg has started to 159.69, and possibly above. Nevertheless, break of 131.51 will pave the way to retest 122.26 low.

In the longer term picture, rejection by 55 month EMA is seen as a bearish signal. And fall from 195.86 (2015 high) should still be in progress. Break of 122.26 should confirm this bearish case and send GBP/JPY through 116.83 low.

EUR/JPY Weekly Outlook

EUR/JPY stayed in tight range below 125.09 last week and initial bias stays neutral this week first. But based on overall development in yen crosses, EUR/JPY's rebound from 118.62 will likely turn out to be stronger than expected. On the upside, break of 125.09 will bring further rise to 55 day EMA (now at 126.75) and above. On the downside, break of 123.40 minor support will turn bias back to the downside for retesting 118.62 low instead.

In the bigger picture, medium term rebound from 109.03 (2016 low) has completed at 137.49 already, with corrective structure. Fall from 137.39 is possibly just the second leg of the corrective pattern from 109.03. Break of 133.12 resistance should start the third leg to 137.49 and above. Nevertheless, break of 118.62 will resume the down trend from 137.49 for 109.03/114.84 support zone instead.

In the long term picture, EUR/JPY is staying in long term sideway pattern, established since 2000. Fall from 137.49 is seen as a falling leg inside the pattern. It could extend through 109.03 to resume the decline from 149.76 But in that case, we'd expect strong support around 94.11 (2012 low) to bring reversal.