EUR/USD

Weekly Analysis: The entire last week price action was incredibly choppy and no advances were made by either side. Overall the pair moved sideways and all directional moves were quickly reversed.

Technical Outlook

The pair was trapped between 1.1450 resistance and 1.1335 support for more than a week and this increases the probability of a breakout in the near future, probably this week. The latest impulse is bullish but from a longer term perspective the pair is ranging, without a clear trend. The oscillators are overbought and 1.1450 is proving to be a strong barrier so we slightly favor a bearish breakout but for that to happen, the first hurdle is the bullish trend line seen in on the chart above. If this line and 1.1335 are broken, we expect a bearish week, with price moving closer to the 50 period Exponential Moving Average.

Fundamental Outlook

Monday the Fed will hold an unexpected Meeting under “Expedited Procedures”, with the main topic being Interest Rates. High volatility is very possible but the actual impact is not known, thus caution is recommended. Wednesday the U.S. Retail Sales are released, showing changes in the total value of purchases made by consumers at retail outlets. This kind of sales represents a major part of the entire consumer spending and usually a better than expected value is beneficial for the US Dollar.

Thursday we remain on the US Dollar side for the release of the U.S. Consumer Price Index, which is one of the main gauges of inflation and usually has a strong impact on the greenback, with higher numbers strengthening it. Eurozone’s Final CPI is also released Thursday but this is the least important version of the indicator and usually doesn’t have a tremendous impact; nonetheless, higher numbers can strengthen the Euro.

Friday’s main event is the release of the University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment, a survey that offers insights into the opinions of consumers regarding current and future economic conditions; higher numbers show that consumer spending is likely to increase in the future and usually generate greenback strength.

GBP/USD

The British economic data released throughout last week was rather mixed but the Pound weakened against the US Dollar, bouncing lower at the 50 days Exponential Moving Average and breaking out of a triangle chart pattern.

Technical Outlook

Although the bears managed to take price outside the triangle chart pattern, the important support at 1.4050 is hindering further advances to the downside. If this level is broken soon, we expect the pair to head into the previous low located at 1.3835 but if another bounce occurs at this area, probably the 50 period Exponential Moving Average is the next destination. The oscillators don’t offer a lot of hints about future direction and overall the balance of power is fragile.

Fundamental Outlook

Tuesday the United Kingdom will release the Consumer Price Index, which shows changes in inflation and also has a strong impact on the Pound under usual circumstances; since the current value is considered too low, an increase would be beneficial for the Pound.

The second and last notable event of the week is the Bank of England interest rate decision scheduled Thursday. No change is anticipated for a relatively long period but the announcement can create volatile movement on Pound related pairs. At the same time BoE will release a summary of the Monetary Policy meeting, showing the reasons that determined the rate decision and also a breakdown of the members’ votes on the rate. This cluster of events is likely to generate irregular movement, thus we recommend caution.

Written by: Bogdan Giulvezan