Upward Trendline Supports

The EUR/USD closed at $1.2250 after placing a high of $1.2267 and a low of $1.2211. EUR/USD pair reached its highest since January 3 after the dollar came under heavy pressure and pushed the currency pair higher. The risk-on market sentiment also added extra support to the rising prices of the EUR/USD pair. The U.S. dollar slipped against its rival currencies on Tuesday, and the DXY fell by 0.25% to 89.5. The Federal Reserve officials tried to tame the reflation fears and put a bid on the riskier assets. This also exerted an extra burden on the U.S. dollar Index and dragged the greenback lower that added further gains in EUR/USD pair.

On the data front, at 11:00 GMT, the German Final GDP for the quarter dropped to -1.8% against the projected -1.7% and weighed on the single currency Euro that further capped gains in EUR/USD pair. At 13:00 GMT, the German Ifo Business Climate for May rose to 99.2 against the projected 98.2 and supported Euro and added extra gains in EUR/USD pair. At 18:00 GMT, the Belgian NBB Business Climate surged to 6.5 against the predicted 5.6, supported the single currency Euro, and pushed the EUR/USD pair higher.

From the U.S. side, at 18:00 GMT, The Housing Price Index surged to 1.4% against the estimated 1.1% and supported the U.S. dollar and caped further upward momentum in EUR/USD. The S&P/CS Composite-20 HPI for the year also rose to 13.3% against the anticipated 12.6% and supported the U.S. dollar. At 18:59 GMT, the Richmond Manufacturing Index dropped to 18 against the predicted 19, weighed on the U.S. dollar, and lifted EUR/USD. At 19:00 GMT, the CB Consumer Confidence in May declined to 117.2 against the estimated 119.0 and weighed on the U.S. dollar and added further EUR/USD pair gains. The New Home Sales fell to 863K against the projected 950K, weighed on the U.S. dollar, and pushed the EUR/USD pair higher.

The U.S. removal of China's Xiaomi from the government blacklist and a steady vaccination drive in the West favored the upbeat market sentiment. Another report suggested that the U.S. was ready to ease the Russian oil pipeline ban that favored the market mood and supported the rising prices of riskier assets like the EUR/USD pair.

The single currency Euro was strong across the board on Tuesday after the European Commission released a report suggesting that the European Union was expecting to receive more than a billion doses of coronavirus vaccines by the end of September from four drug-makers. The document showed that the EU was confident that it has enough vaccines to immunize its entire population by that date. EU expects to receive 413 million doses in the 2nd quarter and another 529 million in the 3rd quarter.

During the 1st quarter, the EU has received about 106 million doses of the coronavirus vaccine. By the end of the year, the EU forecasts that it will receive another 452 million doses to make 1.5 billion. This raised the chances of fast economic growth and recovery that added strength to the single currency Euro and pushed the EUR/USD pair higher.

EURUSD Intraday Technical Levels

Support Resistance

1.2186 1.2247

1.2146 1.2270

1.2124 1.2309

Pivot Point: 1.2208

EUR/USD - Technical Outlook

The EUR/USD is trading at 1.2246 area, having tested the triple top resistance level of 1.2260. The pair has closed Tweezers top candles below 1.2269 level, suggesting odds of bearish correction in the EUR/USD pair. On the lower side, EMA's 20 and 50 periods support the direct currency pair around 1.2233 level. Breakout or a bearish crossover below these EMA can expose the EUR/USD towards 1.2197 and 1.2165. On the flip side, violation of 1.2260 resistance exposes the pair towards 1.2273 and 1.2309 resistance. All the best!

20 & 50 EMA Crossover!

The BTC/USD was closed at $38363.0 after placing a high of $39761.0 and a low of $36760.5. Bitcoin reached near $40,000 on Tuesday amid a combination of factors. Institutional investors and retail traders that wanted to trade in bitcoin but could not afford its high prices were now entering the market, and this was driving its prices higher once again. The recent decline in bitcoin prices has encouraged many investors who were waiting for it to come lower to gain the opportunity of entering the market. For instance, an asset management company Ark Investment Management, led by Cathie Wood, availed the chance and bought about $20 million worth of bitcoin as its prices have declined.

The company filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that it has purchased about $19,872,939 worth in bitcoin; however, it did not reveal the specific time of the investment. This decision by Ark to buy the dip might encourage other investors and institutions that had plans to do the same and could increase the prices of bitcoin.

On Tuesday, the influential CEOs Elon Musk and Michael Saylor announced that they held a meeting between bitcoin mining firms based in North America and developed a plan to launch a group named “Bitcoin Mining Council.” The council will provide transparency around the types of energy used in practice and push it towards more renewable sources.

In addition, Dubai-based Freezone DMCC launched its new Crypto Centre to support businesses operating in the cryptographic and blockchain sectors. The DMCC Crypto Centre is located in Almas Tower, and it offers co-working space for all types and sizes of crypto businesses. It supports companies from developing blockchain-enabled trading platforms to companies offering, issuing, listing, and trading crypto assets. This news also added strength to bitcoin prices on Tuesday.

Bitcoin also surged on Tuesday amid a report showing a study by activist group Greenpeace and WWF that bitcoin mining was terrible for the environment. Still, the banks pollute way more than bitcoin by financing destructive industries.

The report suggested that British banks were responsible for supporting projects that emitted 805m tonnes of CO2 in 2019. The UK is a significant contributor to climate change, and it is ranked in the top 20 most populating countries with 370 billion metric tonnes of CO2 emission. China and the United States top the list by a wide margin. This report also favored the bitcoin and pushed its prices near $40,000.

BTC/USD Intraday Technical Levels

Support Resistance

36828.6 39829.1

35294.3 41295.3

33828.1 42829.6

Pivot Point: 38294.8

BTC/USD - Technical Outlook

The BTC/USD has recovered from a low level of 37,572 level, and now it’s trading at 40,387 level. On the 4-hour timeframe, the BTC/USD pair has completed 23.6% Fibonacci retracement at 37,572 level, and now it’s heading towards the next resistance area of 41,896. The 38.2% Fibonacci correction level is extending the level. The bullish bias remains vital for BTC/USD, especially over the 38,294 pivot point level, as this level will also be working as support now. Lastly, the 20 & 50 periods EMA are also in support of a bullish trend today. All the best!

Symmetrical Triangle Breakout

Gold prices were closed at $1878.05 after placing a high of $1887.80 and a low of $1875.65. After rising for the previous two consecutive sessions, gold dropped on Monday and lost some of its gains from Friday despite the weak U.S. dollar on the day. The U.S. dollar remained low on Monday mainly due to declining U.S. Treasury yields. The treasury yields on the benchmark 10-year note continued their bearish streak for the 4th consecutive session and dropped to 1.596% on Monday that added pressure on the greenback and made it weak against the basket of six major currencies, and dragged DXY to 89.76 for the day.

Despite the declining U.S. dollar and the treasury yields, gold remained under pressure on Monday as investors weighed comments by Federal Reserve officials seeking to soothe concerns about inflation. The Fed Governor Lael Brainard and Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic said they would not be surprised to see bottlenecks and supple shortages push prices up in the coming months as the pandemic was getting away and the pent-up demand was rising unleashed. However, the fed officials believed that much of those price gains were likely temporary and will fade eventually with the recovery in the economy.

The talks from Fed that inflation in the U.S. will be transitory proved to be beneficial for gold as it helped sustain bullish momentum in precious metals for the short term. Gold is facing continuous resistance at the $1900 level, and a favorable event will be needed to break this resistance level. It seems like gold is moving closer to erase this year’s decline as investors turn more bullish on the yellow metal. Meanwhile, the market-based measures of inflation expectations also declined, and traders remained cautious about price pressures along with the rising number of coronavirus cases in some parts of the world.

Furthermore, another reason behind the declining prices of gold on Monday could be the comments from Fed officials in support of digital currencies. On Monday, the Fed Governor Lael Brainard said that the Fed was stepping up its research and other efforts to explore the potential development of a digital version of the U.S. dollar. This came when more consumers were using digital payments, and other governments were pushing forward with their digital currencies. The Atlanta Federal Reserve President Raphael Bostic also said that the rapid development of cryptocurrency and digital finance was an area that cannot be ignored. He also pointed to volatility in technologies like bitcoin and their shortcomings as a substitute for traditional currencies like the dollar.

Gold Intraday Technical Level

Support Resistance

1873.20 1885.35

1868.35 1892.65

1861.05 1897.50

Pivot Point: 1880.50

Gold - XAU/USD - Technical Outlook

Gold has suddenly taken a bullish move, as it’s trading at 1,885 level now. On the 4-hour timeframe, gold has formed a symmetrical triangle pattern that supports a solid bullish bias in gold. On the higher side, gold is facing strong resistance at 1,886, and violation of this exposes the metal towards the next resistance level of 1,892 and 1,898. At the same time, the metal’s support stays at 1,879 and 1,873. A bearish breakout of these support levels opens up room for gold to trade towards the next support area of 1,861. All the best!

CB Consumer Confidence Ahead!

The GBP/USD was closed at $1.4155 after placing a high of $1.4173 and a low of $1.4110. GBP/USD remained lower for the day and extended the previous session's retracement slide, and continued bearish momentum for 2nd consecutive day. In the absence of any new fundamental developments, fears over the long-term impact of Brexit and the economic damage from the pandemic kept the British Pound under pressure. However, a combination of factors helped limit the losses in GBP/USD pair on Monday.

The easing of lockdown measures and the impressive pace of the coronavirus vaccinations in the United Kingdom kept the investors optimistic about the outlook of the U.K. economy. The official data suggested that more than 70% of adults in the country have received their first dose of the coronavirus vaccine. At the same time, some 22 million have also received their second dose of vaccine. The U.K.'s government plan to end restrictions entirely from June 21 combined with the proven effectiveness of vaccines against the Indian variant of coronavirus added strength in British Pound that kept the currency pair GBP/USD steady throughout the day.

Meanwhile, the ongoing decline in the U.S. treasury yields on a 10-year note kept the U.S. dollar bulls on the defensive and limited the losses in GBP/USD pair. In addition, the underlying bullish sentiment surrounding the equity markets also kept the U.S. dollar under pressure and capped further losses in GBP/USD pair. Furthermore, the Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey said in testimony to lawmakers on Monday that the expected acceleration in prices this year will likely be temporary. The policymakers from the Bank of England pushed back against concerns that the rapid economic rebound from the pandemic will open roads for a damaging wave of inflation.

These comments were similar to Fed officials who believed that the rising inflationary pressure would be temporary and soon fade away as the economy continues its growth toward recovery. After these comments, the British Pound gathered some strength against the U.S. dollar and recovered most of its losses incurred during early trading hours.

On the other hand, the U.S. Dollar was also weak across the board as the U.S. Dollar Index that measures the value of the greenback against the basket of six major currencies, fell to 89.76 level amid the declining U.S. Treasury yields on a 10-year note that reached below 1.60% on Monday. The weak U.S. dollar also kept the GBP/USD pair losses limited in the absence of any major economic event from both sides.

GBP/USD Intraday Technical Levels

Support Resistance

1.4119 1.4182

1.4084 1.4208

1.4057 1.4244

Pivot Point: 1.4146

GBP/USD - Technical Outlook

The GBP/USD is trading at 1.4198 area, getting closer to test the triple top resistance level of 1.4218 level. The pair has closed three white soldiers above 1.4110 level, suggesting odds of bullish trend continuation in the GBP/USD pair. EMA's 20 and 50 periods support the Cable around 1.4142 and 1.4114 levels on the lower side. At the same time, a breakout or a bullish crossover above 1.4218 exposes the GBP/USD towards 1.4284 and 1.4325. On the flip side, violation of 1.4110 support exposes the pair towards 1.4020 Support. Traders will be focusing on the CB Consumer Confidence figures from the U.S. All the best!

Ethereum Completes 38.2% Fibonacci Retracement!

The ETH/USD was closed at $2648.50 after placing a high of $2648.50 and a low of 2097.31. After declining over the weekend for three consecutive days, ETH/USD recovered most of its losses and gathered some strength to remain green for the day.

On Sunday, the co-founder of Ethereum, Vitalik Buterin, published a post on various scalability solutions for blockchains and explained how Musk's increasing parameters were inadvisable. This post responded to Elon Musk's claims of speeding up the Dogecoin network by simply increasing protocol parameters. Buterin highlighted the importance of decentralisation in response to Musk's claims regarding Dogecoin's scalability. Musk has said that DOGE will become the leading chain if it pushes its block size by 900%.

Whereas, Buterin said that the attention of Musk was only on scalability, and for the matter, he was not even focusing on things that make the blockchain what it is. However, Musk could not stop himself from reacting to this post by Buterin and tweeted on Monday that Vitalik fears the Dogecoin. This came eventually as a response to Buterin for criticising his claims on blockchain scalability.

Meanwhile, an American multinational financial services company, Goldman Sachs Group Inc, has also shared its views on the controversy between Bitcoin and Ethereum. The bank was in support of the latter. According to a research report leaked by experts from Goldman Sachs, the bank analyzed and tackled the key arguments that back Ethereum to overtake Bitcoin as a primary store of value in the future.

The leaked report from Goldman Sachs suggested that Ethereum, the second-largest cryptocurrency with a market capitalization of $250 billion, has a good chance of overtaking bitcoin as the dominant store of value. The support to Ethereum was given due to its working as a host to a large number of DApps and smart contracts. The bank added that most Defi apps were being built on the Ethereum network. Most NFTs issued were being purchased using Ether, which increases Ether versus bitcoin transactions and reflects the dominance. Given this news, Ethereum prices took a U-turn and recovered almost 3/4th of their previous 3-days losses on Monday and reached a $2648 level. Meanwhile, the U.S. Dollar Index (DXY) that measures the greenback value against the basket of six major currencies also remained weak across the board and dropped to 89.76 level, supporting the rising prices of ETH/USD on Monday.

ETH/USD Intraday Technical Levels

Support Resistance

2281.04 2832.23

1913.58 3015.96

1729.85 3383.42

Pivot Point: 2464.77

ETH/USD - Technical Outlook 

The ETH/USD is trading at 2,658 level, bounced off over the double bottom area of 1,815. On the 4-hour chart, the ETH/USD pair is now facing resistance at 2,715 level that's being extended by a downward trendline. At the same time, the violation of the 2,715 level can grow the ETH/USD pair towards the 2,962 level. The 20 and 50 periods EMA are extending mixed sentiments as the ETH is holding above 20 EMA and below 50 EMA. Besides, the ETH/USD pair has completed 38.2% Fibonacci resistance, and now the ETH/USD is likely to face resistance at the same level of 2,715 level. All the best!

20 & 50 EMA Supports Bullish Trend!

Gold prices were closed at $1881.85 after placing a high of $1890.15 and a low of $1870.30. Gold extended its gains on Friday and reached its highest since the first week of January. Gold continued its bullish streak for the third consecutive week amid the weak U.S. dollar and recent crypto crash. The U.S. Dollar remained high against its major rivals on Friday, but it remained around its recent lows as the U.S. Treasury yields on benchmark 10-year note slipped for the day and reached 1.613%.

The U.S. Dollar Index reached 90.03 after declining to 89.65 during the day, which was the lowest since 25th February. It seems like investors were not worried about monetary tightening at the moment as the U.S. bond yields were declining a little, and the yellow metal was gaining from it. Gold has been on solid foot after the release of minutes from the Federal Reserve of its latest meeting that mentioned possible future discussion on reducing stimulus that prompted the speculation over a potential increase to interest rates.

Federal Reserve also acknowledged the rising pressure around prices as the disrupted U.S. supply chain struggled to cope with the increased demand after reopening the economy from months of pandemic –suppression. However, Fed also said that this inflationary pressure was temporary and it will fade away as the economy moves towards full recovery from the pandemic. Fed also noted that there was no need to raise interest rates at the moment. After this, gold started gaining due to its status as a hedge against inflation, and U.S. treasury yields starting declining, which added further upside pressure on the yellow metal and pushed it towards the $1900 level. This was the first attempt of gold after January to return to the $1900 level.

On the data front, at 18:45 GMT, the Flash manufacturing PMI for May increased to 61.5 against the forecasted 60.0 and supported the U.S. dollar that capped further gains in yellow metal prices. The Flash Services PMI also rose to 70.1 against the forecasted 64.3 and helped the U.S. dollar that limited the rising prices of gold. At 19:00 GMT, the Existing Home Sales in April declined to 5.85M against the projected 6.09M and weighed on the U.S. dollar, which added further gold prices.

According to President of San Francisco Federal Reserve, Mary Daly, the factors pushing U.S. inflation higher were likely to recede at the start of 2022. She added that a sequence of these factors will probably continue to appear throughout the end of the year and will start to roll off at the start of next year. Daly said that monetary policy was at a good place at the moment and urged policymakers to remain patient on the subject of 8 million unemployed people as the economy was making progress towards recovery. After these comments, the U.S. dollar saw some strength and added pressure on rising prices of gold on Friday.

Gold Intraday Technical Level

Support Resistance

1864.24 1884.49

1854.12 1894.62

1843.99 1904.74

Pivot Point: 1874.37

Gold - XAU/USD - Technical Outlook

The precious metal gold is trading with a bullish at 1,882 level, facing immediate resistance at 1,889. On the 4-hour timeframe, the precious metal gold has formed series of neutral candles, which in technical terms are known as doji and spinning top. These candles suggest indecision among gold traders. On the higher side, gold has the potential to go after the next resistance area of 1,889. On the 4-hour timeframe, gold continues to hold over 20 & 50 periods EMA, which extends solid support around 1,876. Besides, the RSI and MACD exhibit bullish bias as the RSI and MACD stays in a buy zone. Gold’s immediate resistance stays at 1,889 and 1,897, while support stays at 1,874 and 1,863. All the best!

Ascending Triangle Pattern

The EUR/USD pair was closed at 1.2179 after placing a high of 1.2241 and a low of 1.2161. EUR/USD fell on Friday and reached below 1.2200 level amid renewed strength in the U.S. dollar driven by better-than-expected macroeconomic data from the U.S.A. On Friday, the U.S. Dollar Index that measures the greenback value against the basket of six major currencies rose above the $90 level. It supported the greenback that ultimately added pressure on the EUR/USD pair.

Meanwhile, during the Eurogroup meeting, the Eurogroup President Paschal Donohoe said that the economic recovery of the EU was still some way to go due to uncertainty associated with the coronavirus pandemic and its variants that require agile policies. He added that the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) funds and the reopening of economies accelerated economic recovery momentum.

Euro remained under pressure on Friday because of the dismal data report about the German Flash Manufacturing PMI that fell short of expectations in May and weighed heavily on single currency despite other positive data and dragged the pair EUR/USD further on the downside.

On the data front, at 12:15 GMT, the French Flash Manufacturing PMI for May increased to 59.2 against the expected 58.6 and supported Euro, and limited the losses of EUR/USD pair. The French Flash Services PMI also surged to 56.6 against the projected 53.0 and supported single currency Euro. At 12:30 GMT, German Flash Manufacturing PMI declined to 64.0 against the forecasted 66.0 and weighed heavily on the single currency Euro and added further pressure on EUR/USD.

On the other hand, German Flash Services rose to 52.8 from the predicted 52.0 and supported the single currency Euro. At 13:00 GMT, the Flash Manufacturing PMI from the whole bloc remained flat at 62.8. The Flash Services PMI from the Euro area advanced to 55.1 against the anticipated 52.5 and supported Euro. At 18:32 GMT, the Consumer Confidence from Europe in May reached -5 from the predicted -7 and supported single currency Euro and caped further EUR/USD pair losses.

From the U.S. side, at 18:45 GMT, the Flash Manufacturing PMI for May advanced to 61.5 against the projected 60.0 and supported the U.S. dollar and added further losses in EUR/USD pair. The Flash Services PMI also increased to 70.1 against the predicted 64.3 and helped the U.S. dollar that kept EUR/USD under pressure. At 19:00 GMT, the Existing Home Sales in April dropped to 5.85M against the estimated 6.09M and weighed the U.S. dollar those further capped losses in EUR/USD pair.

Furthermore, the European Central bank President Christine Lagarde played down the possibility of a significant change away from the current stimulus settings on Friday. While talking about tapering the emergency bond-buying program, she said that it was too early and unnecessary to debate longer-term issues. She said that ECB’s commitment to the euro area was to maintain favourable financing conditions throughout the whole pandemic period, and it will remain the same. This added further pressure on Euro and dragged EUR/USD pair further lower on Friday.

EURUSD Intraday Technical Levels

Support Resistance

1.2186 1.2247

1.2146 1.2270

1.2124 1.2309

Pivot Point: 1.2208

EUR/USD - Technical Outlook

The EUR/USD is trading with a bullish bias at 1.2195, maintaining a new ascending triangle pattern on the 4-hourly timeframe. The EUR/USD pair has formed a bullish engulfing pattern and an inside bar-up pattern over the 1.2165 level support area. Above this, the pair is bouncing off, perhaps, to trade towards the resistance area of 1.2240 level. This level is being extended by a triple top pattern on a 4-hour chart. The EUR/USD’s support holds around 1.2129 levels, and these expose the pair towards the 1.2129 level. All the best!

Bitcoin Comes Under Massive Selling Pressure

The BTC/USD was closed at $33092.8 after placing a high of $38248.7 and a low of $31192.4. Bitcoin extended its gains over the weekend and fell below the $32,000 level. The crypto king trading at $64,000 a month ago had dropped more than 50% to below the $32,000 level this week following the news that Elon Musk has ended all bitcoin payments through Tesla considering the environmental effect. Even news came out that he was taking into account ending all his BTC holdings.

After this news, the whole crypto market saw a massive crash in prices, and the world’s largest cryptocurrency by market cap dropped more than 50% within a month. Furthermore, the declining trend accelerated after JP Morgan issued a report suggesting that many institutional players with a serious interest in bitcoin and other digital assets were now abandoning cryptos to favour gold-related investments. Since then, the yellow metal has skyrocketed and rose to a price of approximately $1900 per ounce.

Another reason behind the recent bitcoin crash could be the latest notice from China to limit the power consumption in industrial areas where many bitcoin mining facilities operate. On Friday, the State Council of China issued a statement aimed explicitly at all operations located in the government-sanctioned industrial zones to limit power consumption. This notice worked as a negative pressure over cryptocurrency space because it will affect the BTC mining and trading and dragged the BTC/USD prices further.

Moreover, Greenpeace, the ecological NGO, reported having stopped accepting bitcoin donations amid the massive impact the digital asset network has on the environment. Greenpeace was one of the first NGOs to add bitcoin to its donations fund, and the recent U-turn to withdraw Bitcoin from its fund due to increased energy consumption added pressure on BTC/USD prices.

The cryptocurrency market was under pressure from back-to-back negative news this week and dragged Bitcoin prices lower, changing the whole market mood to bearish. BTC/USD also remained weak due to rising prices of the U.S. dollar on Friday; the DXY rose and posted gains for the day and reached above 90 level that added further pressure on declining bitcoin.

BTC/USD Intraday Technical Levels

Support Resistance

36269.4 38781.4

34953.7 39977.7

33757.4 41293.4

Pivot point: 37465.7

BTC/USD - Technical Outlook

The leading cryptocurrency BTC/USD continues trading sharply bearish amid a series of fundamentals playing against crypto pairs. The BTC/USD pair is gaining support at 33,600 area, and it has closed a solid bullish candle above this level. This suggests sellers are getting exhausted, and buyers are bracing to enter the market. The Fibonacci indicator suggests resistance around 38.2% Fibo level of 36,700 and 61.8% retracement level 38,580. The pair’s support holds at 33,500 and 31,850. The 20 and 50 periods EMA (Exponential Moving Averages) support a selling trend; therefore, the selling power stays strong over these trading levels. All the best!

European PMI Figures Ahead!

Gold prices were closed at $1874.35 after placing a high of $1884.50 and a low of $1864.25. The yellow metal remained steady on Thursday due to weakness in the U.S. dollar driven by fears of rising inflation. This also offset the pressure for bullion from tapering talks from the U.S. Federal Reserve and helped gold to rise.

The U.S. Dollar Index (DXY) that measures the greenback value against the basket of six major currencies, fell on Thursday, lost almost all of its previous day’s gains, and reached 89.75. The U.S. Treasury yield on a 10-year note also declined on Thursday to 1.625% and weighed on the U.S. dollar.

On the data front, at 17:30 GMT, the Philly Fed Manufacturing Index dropped to 31.5 against the forecasted 40.8 and weighed on the U.S. dollar that helped yellow metal posted gains for the day. However, the Unemployment Claims from the past week slipped to 444K against the expected 453K and supported the U.S. dollar that capped further gold prices. At 19:00 GMT, the CB Leading Index rose to 1.6% against the expected 1.3% and helped the U.S. dollar that limited the gains in gold prices.

Gold steadied after the unemployment claims made by Americans during last week dropped below the expected figure and depicted a strong employment condition of the economy which means the employment goals set by the Fed were also getting closer. This raised expectations of tapering by Fed sooner than expected and supported the U.S. dollar that kept gold prices steady.

On Thursday, the CEO of Barrick Gold, Mark Bristow, dismissed the idea that cryptocurrencies were a better store of value than traditional gold. According to bitcoin supporters, the limited supply of the digital coin and its extraordinary growth makes it a better hedge against inflation than gold. At the same time, Bristow pushed back on these features and criticised the speculative assets for being too volatile to be considered a safe investment. These comments from Bristow added strength to gold prices on Thursday.

Furthermore, the risk-off market sentiment that the Israel-Palestine military conflict has fuelled cooled away on late Thursday after the Israeli government agreed to a mutual ceasefire with Palestine Islamic Jihad and Hamas, proposed by Egypt. The end to 11 days of exchange of rocket strikes and airstrikes between Israel and Palestine lifted the risk-off market sentiment and capped further gains in gold prices.

Gold Intraday Technical Level

Support Resistance

1864.24 1884.49

1854.12 1894.62

1834.99 1904.74

Pivot Point: 1874.37

Gold - XAU/USD - Technical Outlook

On Friday, the precious metal gold continues to follow the same technical levels as discussed in Thursday’s report. Gold continues trading sideways, maintaining a choppy range of 1,878 – 1,870 on the daily timeframe. On the 4-hour chart, the pair is gaining support at 1,869 level now and resistance at 1,889. Currently, gold has entered the buy zone, underpinned by 20 & 50 periods EMA around 1,869. The RSI is holding at 55.23 and the MACD at 1.512, supporting an upward trend in gold. The primary focus of investors will remain on the 1,869 pivot point level as above this bullish bias prevails. Later today, the U.S. economy isn’t expected to release any significant event, and all of the focus will remain on the European PMI figures. All the best!

Buckle Up for PMI Figures!

The EUR/USD pair was closed at 1.2226 after placing a high of 1.2230 and a low of 1.2169. EUR/USD edged higher on Thursday and posted gains for the day amid weakness in the U.S. dollar and improved risk sentiment of the market. The dollar edged lower in early European trade and lost its previous gains that were seen following the minutes from the U.S. Federal Reserve’s latest policy meeting revealed talks about bond tapering. The U.S. Dollar Index was down to 89.75, and the U.S. Treasury yields also went down to 1.625%. Market participants might rethink the perceived hawkishness coming from the minutes and pushed the U.S. dollar back down that boosted EUR/USD pair on Thursday.

On the data front, at 11:00 GMT, the German PPI remained flat with the expectations of 0.8%. At 13:00 GMT, the Current Account surplus dropped to 17.8B against the expected 24.3B and weighed on the single currency Euro that limited the rising prices of EUR/USD pair. From the U.S. side, at 17:30 GMT, the Philly Fed Manufacturing Index declined to 31.5 against the anticipated 40.8 and weighed on the U.S. dollar that helped EUR/USD to post gains. However, the Unemployment Claims from last week declined to 444K against the projected 453K and supported the U.S. dollar that capped further gains in EUR/USD. At 19:00 GMT, the CB Leading Index surged to 1.6% against the estimated 1.3% and supported the U.S. dollar, limiting the gains in EUR/USD prices.

He extended selling pressure surrounding the U.S. dollar lifted EUR/USD pair on Thursday despite better-than-expected data from the U.S. labor department about the unemployment claims made last week by Americans. The declined number of jobless claims showed that the economy was moving towards the goals set by Fed, and soon Fed will start thinking about tapering.

The European Central bank President Christine Lagarde said that the ECB remains committed to shielding the eurozone economy as the path of the coronavirus pandemic remains uncertain, and authorities should not withdraw support too soon. She repeated that it was essential that monetary and fiscal support were not withdrawn as ECB will stand by its commitment to protecting the EU’s economy. These comments from Lagarde added strength to the single currency Euro and supported rising prices of the EUR/USD pair.

EURUSD Intraday Technical Levels

Support Resistance

1.2186 1.2247

1.2146 1.2270

1.2124 1.2309

Pivot Point: 1.2208

EUR/USD - Technical Outlook

The EUR/USD is trading at 1.2226 area, having tested the triple top resistance level of 1.2240 level. The pair has closed Doji candles below 1.2240 level, suggesting odds of bearish correction in the EUR/USD pair. On the lower side, the 20 and 50 periods EMA support the direct currency pair around 1.2225 and 1.2197 level. At the same time, breakout or a bearish crossover below these EMA can expose the EUR/USD towards 1.2197 and 1.2165. On the flip side, violation of 1.2240 resistance exposes the pair towards 1.2270 and 1.2309 resistacne. Traders will be focusing in the manufacturing and services PMI figures today. All the best!