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USD/JPY Analysis: Fails To Gain More

It can be observed that the USD/JPY currency pair did not increase its volatility massively during the panel discussion of the top central bankers. Instead the US Dollar once more attempted to break above the 112.40 mark against the Japanese Yen. For a rather unclear reason that level has been providing resistance in the recent trading sessions. It is possible that the 112.40 mark is a benchmark for the Bank of Japan or a silent player in the form of a large institution, which has enough funds to change the price of the currency pair. However, from a technical perspective the pair is still set to gain more, as the 55-hour SMA is approaching the rate from the downside just above the 112 level.

EUR/USD Analysis: Reaches Above 1.14 Mark

On Thursday morning the common European currency scored new heights against the US Dollar, as the currency pair managed to break a strong resistance cluster. The mentioned resistance cluster consists of the 23.60% Fibonacci retracement level at the 1.1388 mark and the first monthly resistance at 1.1395. As the cluster was broken, it has begun to provide support to the Euro in its efforts against the Greenback. The currency exchange rate is set to reach new heights soon, as the central banker forum has ended, and technical are once more viable to be used for guidance. From a technical perspective the EUR/USD pair faces no resistance up to the 1.1546 level, where the second monthly resistance level is located at. That means that a range of almost 150 base points is clear.

XAU/USD Analysis: Reveals Its Pattern

A third attempt of the yellow metal to break through the resistance levels, which are located just above the 1,250 mark. However, the metals price is also not retreating, as the combined support of the various simple moving averages is providing the needed strength for the metal. Meanwhile, while looking back a the few previous trading sessions, one can notice that in the recent days the commodity price has formed an ascending triangle pattern. In accordance with the pattern the bullion’s price is setting itself up for a breakout to the upside, as pressure has been building up against the resistance of the 1,250 mark while the metal has gradually shown higher bounce off low levels.

BoE Governor Mark Carney Turns Unexpectedly Hawkish

'Some removal of monetary stimulus is likely to become necessary if the trade-off facing the MPC continues to lessen and the policy decision accordingly becomes more conventional.' — Mark Carney, Bank of England

The Bank of England Governor Mark Carney said on Wednesday that the Monetary Policy Committee might need to start raising interest rates soon, adding that the BoE's interest-rate decision would be discussed in the next few months. Carney's unexpectedly hawkish comments pushed the Sterling to its new session highs. In the meantime, the GBP/USD hit its highest level since the June 8 election. Earlier, Mark Carney stated that it was not yet the time to step on the path of interest rate hikes despite surging inflation. Furthermore, on Wednesday, the Governor said that at the June 15 meeting it was necessary to leave the Bank's interest rates unchanged due to 'the mixed signals on consumer spending and business investment'. On June 15, five out of eight policymakers voted to keep monetary policy and rates on hold. According to the BoE, inflation is set to rise above 3% in the upcoming months, well above the Bank's 2% target. Carney stated that in order to begin raising rates he would focus on household consumption and the economy's reaction to the country's withdrawal from the European Union.

US Pending Home Sales Post Third Straight Monthly Decline In May, Crude Stockpiles Climb 0.1M Barrels

'The most interesting thing is crude oil production was down ... which is a significant decline given the increases in previous weeks.' — Andrew Lipow, Lipow Oil Associates

Pending home sales in the United States dropped for the third consecutive month in May, official figures revealed on Wednesday. The National Association of Realtors reported that pending home sales fell 0.8% last month, following April's downwardly revised drop of 1.7% and falling behind market analysts' expectations for an increase of 0.9%. According to Wednesday's data, supply shortages mainly drove the fall. The supply of homes available for sale dropped more than 8% year-over-year in May. Other data released on Wednesday showed that US crude oil inventories rose 0.1M barrels in the week ended June 23, following the prior week's drop of 2.5M barrels, whereas analysts anticipated a drop of 2.1M barrels during the reported week. Meanwhile, weekly production declined 100K barrels per day to 9.3M bpd, marking the largest fall since July 2016. However, some analysts suggested that the production decline was temporary and was triggered by the Cindy Storm in the Gulf of Mexico and maintenance works in Alaska. Despite the unexpected US crude inventory build, oil prices rose shortly after the release.

BoC Governor Stephen Poloz Says Interest Rate Cuts Did Their Job

'It does look as though those cuts have done their job. But we're just approaching a new interest rate decision so I don't want to prejudge.' — Stephen Poloz, Bank of Canada

The Bank of Canada Governor Stephen Poloz reported on Tuesday that interest rate cuts made in 2015 after the sharp oil price drop had done their job. Back in 2015, the Bank's key interest rates were cut twice but a distinctly more hawkish tone recently from policymakers in recent days has boosted the probability of a rate hike by the end of this year. The chance of a July rate hike climbed to 43% on Wednesday from 30% the day before. Poloz said that the country's major regions had been experiencing strong growth, however, the economic development phase differed from place to place. Also, he said that despite unexpectedly strong economic performance during the March quarter, economic growth would likely moderately slow in the upcoming quarters. Apart from that, the BoC Governor noted that the United States were two years ahead of Canada because of the recent oil price shock that forced the Bank to cut rates. In addition, Poloz said that uncertainty of the NAFTA's fate was putting downward pressure on businesses, adding that the NAFTA agreement was very crucial for the Canadian economy.

Technical Outlook: USDJPY – Fresh Strength Looks For Extension To 113.05/35 Targets, Daily Cloud Underpins

The dollar is regaining traction against yen on Thursday and probing above two day congestion tops at 112.45.

Fresh bulls emerge after long-tailed Doji on Tuesday when dips were contained by strong support, formed by 100SMA and daily cloud top.

Repeated close above 112.24 (Fibo 61.8% of 114.36/108.80 was strong bullish signal for fresh upside which now eyes targets at 113.05 (Fibo 76.4%) and 113.35 (weekly Kijun-sen).

Corrective dips are expected to hold above daily cloud and keep bulls intact.

Extension below the cloud would weaken near-term structure and shift bias lower.

Res: 113.05, 113.35, 113.78, 114.00
Sup: 112.13, 111.80, 111.50, 111.46

Technical Outlook: Cable – Extended Rally Eyes 1.3000/50 Targets

Cable extends strong rally of past two days on Thursday, to fully retrace 1.2977/1.2588 bear-leg (08 June pre-UK election high / 21 June low) and looking for retest of psychological 1.3000 barrier.

The pound was additionally boosted on Wednesday after BoE’s Governor Carney said that interest rate raise is more likely as British economy comes closer to operating at full capacity.

Thick daily cloud underpins the action, following Tuesday’s break above the cloud after the pair stayed within the cloud in past two weeks.

Break through 1.3000 barrier would open multi-month high and recovery rejection at 1.3050 zone, break of which is needed to signal continuation of recovery phase from 1.2000 zone.

Strong bullish acceleration may show signs of hesitation at 1.3000/50 resistance zone, as overbought daily studies suggest correction.

Daily cloud top / session low offer solid support at 1.2920, which should ideally contain, however stronger pullback may extend towards 1.2840/00 support zone.

Res: 1.3000, 1.3047, 1.3109, 1.3120
Sup: 1.2920, 1.2900, 1.2861, 1.2840

Technical Outlook: EURUSD May Extend Rally Towards 1.1448/1.1511 Targets

The Euro remains firm in early Thursday's trading and consolidating around 1.1400 handle after posting new one-year high at 1.1420 in Asia.

Strong rally extends into third day and dented targets at 1.1414/28, firm break of which would open way towards next target at 1.1614 (02 May 2016 peak).

Strong bullish sentiment was boosted by comments from ECB President Mario Draghi on Tuesday who hinted that the ECB could trim its stimulus towards the end of the year. Markets interpreted Draghi's message as signal of the beginning of tighter monetary policy in the Eurozone that sparked strong rally of the single currency.

Sustained break above 1.1428 (24 June 2016 high) could trigger fresh extension towards Fibo projections at 1.1448 (200%) and 1.1511 (238.2%).

On the other side, slow stochastic is deeply in overbought territory on daily chart but continues to head north, while daily RSI is at the border of overbought zone, suggesting corrective action in the near-term.

Initial support lies at 1.1374 (session low), ahead of more significant former pivotal barrier, now support at 1.1300 and ascending converged daily Tenkan-sen/Kijun-sen at 1.1270, above which extended corrective dips are expected to find support.

Res: 1.1428, 1.1448, 1.1511, 1.1550
Sup: 1.1374, 1.1300, 1.1270, 1.1230

Central Bankers Whipsaw Markets

Central Banks were again the focus as latest comments from the Bank of England sparked a risk-on tone that helped lift GBP and US Equities.

GBPUSD climbed the most since April on comments made by Bank of England Governor Carney stating that 'the Monetary Policy Committee may need to begin removing stimulus'. This was a major change from Governor Carney's comments last week that 'now was not the time to start the tightening process'.

Because of this about-change GBP against USD was the recipient of a 1.2% gain on the day trading as high as 1.29717 – the biggest one day move since the snap election was called on April 18th. Overnight GBP has remained bullish reaching a high of 1.29942 in early trading this morning trading currently at 1.2985.

EURUSD was also the recipient of some 'whip-saw' action on Wednesday as the previous hawkish tone of ECB President Draghi Tuesday comments were, per Central Bank officials, misinterpreted as Draghi commented that 'deflationary forces have been replaced by reflationary ones'. Three Eurosystem officials stated 'what was perceived as hawkish was really meant to strike a balance between recognizing the bloc's economic strength and warning that monetary support is still needed'. Following Draghi's comments EURUSD saw a dramatic sell off from around 1.1380 down to 1.1291 before retracing back to reach a new daily high of 1.1390 – not seen since June 2016. EURUSD has now broken the psychological 1.14 area trading as high as 1.14322 this morning.

Following the latest EIA Crude Oil Inventories report on Wednesday, that showed an increase of 0.118M compared to the consensus forecast of a decrease of 2.585M, WTI advanced higher to trade up to $44.91pb a 1.3% increase on the day. Brent was only slightly lagging gaining 1.1% on the day to trade up to $47.56pb. The price increase is moving away from the $40pb area thought to be a major psychological support. WTI and Brent are currently trading at $45.30 and $48.00 respectively in early trading.

CAD remains strong against USD gaining 0.63% yesterday to trade as low as 1.3047 as the Bank of Canada Governor Poloz's recent comments has resulted in the Canadian OIS showing the possibility of a July rate increase climbing to nearly 70%. USDCAD has continued lower overnight with it currently trading at 1.3012 slightly above the low set this morning at 1.30065.

Gold climbed for a second day rising to trade as high as $1,254.65 before retracing back to currently trade at $1,250.

At 13:30 BST today will see the release of US Initial Jobless Claims and Annualized Gross Domestic Product – more data to determine if the US economy is on a strong trajectory. Note that Federal Reserve Member Bullard is scheduled to speak at 18:00 BST so we may get even more rhetoric on the state of the US economy.