Summary:
- GBPUSD moves close to 1.40 and hits 19-month high
- Crypto has another look lower
- Big week ahead for the Euro
- ZAR rallies as Zuma era comes to an end
- Gold at key level; DE30 technical overview
The Pound has begun the week in a bullish mood with the GBPUSD rate hitting its highest level since the Brexit vote. The pair now trades within 50 pips of the 1.40 handle and is sitting at a key swing level from a long term perspective.
Following a large sell-off yesterday Bitcoin looked to stabilise this morning, but as the day has wore on the shorts have wrestled control of the tape once more. A decline of around 10% during Sunday’s session had left the market looking vulnerable and with price moving back down near 10,000 once more a retest of the prior week’s low at 9100 is now possible.
This week is all about the euro. After a surge above 2017 highs, EURUSD seats well above 1.22. Is this too much for the ECB or – to the countrary – will Mario Draghi provide fresh fuel to the rally? What is the fundamental and technical outlook for the EURUSD currency pair? We take a look at those points in this analysis.
Along with the fading strength of the US dollar emerging market currencies might find themselves in the limelight in the upcoming years. The South African rand may be one of the beneficiaries when the 75-year old president Zuma is finally ousted. Meanwhile the ZAR has already benefited from the weekend ruling African National Congress (ANC) meeting which chose that Zuma must leave his office without pining down when though.
Ever since the Fed raised rates in the middle of December there’s been a steady bid behind the price of Gold with the market moving back above the 1300 handle to reach its highest level in more than 4 months. However, there was some resistance found around 1340-45 which sellers managed to defend and last week saw a red close for the first time in 5 weeks.
European indices have continued their rally despite the stronger euro. Having said that, the German DAX remains still below its November’s highs while the stock markets in France and Italy (CAC40 and FTSE MIB respectively) have already reached their new peaks. A technical overview of the market can be found here.