WEEKLY ANALYSIS: U.S. DOLLAR ON SHAKY GROUND; MIXED PERFORMANCE AGAINST EURO AND POUND
EUR/USD
Weekly Analysis: The last weekly candle is a bullish pin bar although the jobs situation in the United States improved and this should have strengthened the US Dollar. The pair dipped below 1.0825 but soon returned above this level.
Technical Outlook
Last week’s price action created minor support at 1.0710 but now it appears to be headed for the resistance zone between 1.0980 and 1.1040. We expect this zone to be touched in the early days of the week and then the pair will probably start to move lower, towards 1.0825. The chances of this scenario to happen will increase if the Relative Strength Index will reach overbought or will create bearish divergence. Keep in mind that the NFP report was better than expected so we are likely to see US Dollar strength during the week ahead.
Fundamental Outlook
The week ahead is much slower in terms of economic releases and in fact Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday will be quiet days, without major data coming out. Thursday the Eurogroup Meetings take place, attended by the President of the European Central Bank, finance ministers from the member states and other important personalities; the same day the U.S. Unemployment Claims come out, but usually the impact of this release is mild.
Friday will be the busiest day of the week, with the headlines being the U.S. Retail Sales and later in the day the Preliminary Consumer Sentiment survey released by the University of Michigan. The impact of the latter fluctuates and depends on the difference between forecast and actual value but usually higher values for any of the 2 indicators can strengthen the US Dollar.
GBP/USD
The Pound is weakening severely and rapidly against the US Dollar and last week the pair closed below key support on the back of a better than anticipated number posted by the U.S. Non-Farm Payrolls.
Technical Outlook
The pair is in need of a retracement to the upside and this week we expect it to climb above 1.4565 (this is a key level of support, better seen on a Weekly chart). The Relative Strength Index and the Stochastic on a Daily chart are deep in oversold territory for quite a long time, increasing the chances of a bullish pullback. This potential move up is likely to find resistance in the zone around 1.4700 but the picture is bearish as long as the pair is trading below the 50 period Exponential Moving Average.
Fundamental Outlook
Monday no major indicators are released by the United Kingdom but Tuesday action picks up with the release of the Manufacturing Production which will show changes in the output generated by the British Manufacturing sector. Usually the impact is high, with better numbers showing increased economic activity, thus a stronger Pound. The same day, NIESR will release an Estimate of the British Gross Domestic Product and although this is not a final number, if it’s higher than expected it can be beneficial for the currency.
Thursday the Bank of England will announce their interest rate decision but no change is expected (currently 0.50%). At the same time the Monetary Policy Committee will release a breakdown of the rate votes (showing the stance of each member) and also a summary of their meeting. This cluster of events is likely to create strong volatility, even if the rate will remain the same.