FOREX TECHNICAL ANALYSIS: OVEREXTENDED PRICES CALL FOR BULLISH RETRACEMENTS
EUR/USD
Forex Technical Analysis: Last week was characterized mainly by indecision and sideways price action and the pair traded inside a horizontal channel for most of the time. A breakout only occurred during the last day of the week, marking the end of the ranging period.
Technical Outlook
Although the pair broke resistance, the main trend is still bearish and we anticipate further downside movement after a bullish retracement is completed. An important area is located around 1.2620 as we have three types of resistance there: diagonal resistance represented by the bearish trend line seen on the chart above, dynamic resistance represented by the 50 day Exponential Moving Average and horizontal resistance represented by the level at 1.2620. If this zone can be broken to the upside, it will be an indication of bull strength and price is likely to travel towards 1.2750; otherwise, 1.2360 will be the week’s target.
Fundamental Outlook
Monday ECB President Mario Draghi will testify on Monetary Policy before the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs. This event is likely to generate a strong market response since all Draghi’s public speeches are important but this appearance holds extra importance due to the fact that monetary policy will be discussed. The German ZEW Economic Sentiment survey is released Tuesday, showing the level of optimism among German analysts and professional investors and the same day the American Producer Price Index comes out, tracking changes in prices charged by producers.
Wednesday’s main event is the release of the FOMC Meeting Minutes which will contain insights into the reasons that stood behind the latest Fed decision regarding monetary policy and interest rates. Thursday the focus remains on the United States for the announcement of their Consumer Price Index and the economic week finishes Friday with another Mario Draghi speech at the 24th European Banking Congress, in Frankfurt.
GBP/USD
The Pound weakened throughout the week that just ended as the British economy showed signs of slowing down and inflation expectations dropped. Support was broken and the pair printed another low of the year.
Technical Outlook
The downtrend is strong and further bearish price action is expected but the pair is overextended as shown by the oversold condition of the Relative Strength Index on a Weekly chart. Support sits at 1.5590 but we favor bullish retracements before the downside can prevail. The resistance at 1.5750 is the first bullish target, followed by 1.5900 and the Daily chart shows bullish divergence (price is printing lower lows while the RSI shows higher lows), supporting this upside bias.
Fundamental Outlook
The main gauge of British inflation is released Tuesday: the Consumer Price Index. Inflation is highly correlated with the Pound’s strength and weakness will likely be seen if the CPI value will be lower than anticipated. Another important event is the announcement of the Monetary Policy Committee’s votes on interest rate, scheduled Wednesday. This is a good opportunity to see if some of the members are changing their stance regarding a change of the interest rate and usually volatility is present only if one or more members changed their vote. Thursday the British Retail Sales come out and this is another reason for increased volatility and Pound fluctuation. As always, the US events will have a direct impact on the pair’s movement.
Written by: Bogdan Giulvezan