There were big movements higher for both the Euro and Pound pairs against the Dollar coming to the end of the trading week.
24
Dec
There were big movements higher for both the Euro and Pound pairs against the Dollar coming to the end of the trading week.
Asian shares print gains with light colors ahead of Monday’s European session. While the continuation of the Brexit negotiations and the start of the coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccinations in the US favored the risks earlier in Asia, hopes of the US covid stimulus and upbeat data from Japan helped keep the upside momentum afterward. However, a light calendar and the multi-month high of various indices in the Asia-Pacific region keep the bulls chained.
WTI picks up the bids near $46.50, up 1.75% intraday, while taking rounds to the nearly 25-pip trading range during early Friday. The energy benchmark recently surged to $46.63, the highest level in months, after confirming the bullish flag chart pattern on the four-hour play.
USD/JPY holds the lower ground below 104.00 heading into the European open, mainly undermined by the persistent weakness in the US dollar amid economic rebound expectations.
Australia – New bids arose close to the 0.7285 regions, permitting a rebound in AUD/USD, as the bulls recover 0.7300 in the midst of a positive market temperament.
Wall Street ended the day with gains across the major U.S. stock indexes despite initial jobless claims totaling 742k vs the consensus forecast of 707k according to the DailyFX Economic Calendar. Continuing claims, however, fell to 6.37 million, the lowest level since March. The Dow Jones and S&P 500 opened in the red, but bulls managed to bid up prices throughout the day and close with gains across the U.S. equity space.
Gold and silver prices have notched explosive rallies over the last couple trading sessions. The two precious metals have gained 3.6% and 7.5% respectively month-to-date with their advances likely mirroring the steep decline by the US Dollar. Also, a precipitous drop recorded by the S&P 500-derived VIX Index in the wake of the election also speaks to improved liquidity conditions and perhaps helps explain the boost to gold price action. We discussed these themes as potential catalysts for a bullish breakout by precious metals in our recent gold forecast.
The dollar hopped on Thursday alongside with the safe-haven yen. The Australian dollar hit a fourteen-day low on Thursday.
Growing fears over the second-wave of the coronavirus globally combined with pre-US election jitters will continue to underpin the haven demand for the US dollar, keeping the bearish bias intact in gold (XAU/USD) going forward.
