Following longest fall since 2008 no surprise to see British pound and the 6B move higher in this morning's trading, on the back of profit taking and closure of US and Canadian markets for the Labor Day holiday.
From a VPA (volume price analysis) perspective the recent move lower has also been associated with falling volume suggesting the downwards pressure is, for now, running out of steam, with the platform of support at 1.5160 providing the reason for the pullback. Longer term, however, the outlook remains bearish for Cable, and should the 1.5160 price point fall to hold we may see a move towards 1.50 and even a possible re-test of the 1.46 region in due course.
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As spot forex traders we sometimes forget the futures market can often help with market sentiment towards a currency and the daily chart for 6A, which is the contract for the Aussie dollar is particularly revealing.
For the 6A, it has been a return to business as usual over the last couple of weeks, since the breakaway from the VPOC at 0.7320 once again confirming the heavily bearish sentiment for the AUD.
The initial break was on the 24th August where the wide spread down candle also triggered the volatility indicator, and as expected the price action moved back within the spread of the candle; a cynical move designed to trigger stops.
Since then the candle has duly been confirmed with a rapid move through the low volume node on the VPOC indicator at 0.6980 with the pair now trading lower once again at 0.6934 in the London session.
With the weight of transacted volume now sitting overhead in the 0.7320 price area and...
Last Tuesday's failure by cable to take out the 1.5818 resistance resulted in a down candle on high volume, which when it was combined with the previous day's bullish candle on very high volume gave us a two bar reversal (aka a shooting star), and the first signal that cable's preceding move away from the volume point of control region was likely to fail. This view was also validated by the volume which accompanied the shooting star, and a further clear signal of weakness to come.
Against this backdrop Wednesday's sharp 267 pip sell off in cable came as no surprise with the pair also moving firmly below the VPOC to close out at 1.5463 on the session.
The bearish sentiment was cable continued for the remainder of the week, as the pair closed out August 1.5390.
The start of the new trading week saw cable once again come under pressure, on relatively low volume, but this is easily explained as Monday was...
The release of slightly better than expected preliminary GDP and unemployment claims for the US did manage to add some bearish momentum to the eurodollar before it found support at 1.2525 from where it has been attempting to rally higher. It goes without saying this level needs to be taken out for the pair to continue lower. However, what is also significant on the 30 min and hourly chart is that this price point marks the low of the volatility candles which were triggered at the time of the news releases.
A trigger of such a candle - in other words a candle which is outside the ATR for the instrument in question - often results in the price action simply retreating within the spread of the candle.
At time of writing the pair is once again approaching the 1.1225 price point and if taken out should see the pair move to test the next level of support at 1.1213.
The good...
During yesterday's overall market volatility the forex market posted some very interesting and intriguing price action and candle patterns, particularly with regard to the major pairs.
As a general rule of thumb whenever the market becomes agitated and adopts a 'risk off' mood traders and investors can expect a strong move into safe havens such as the US dollar and gold. However, as has been the case recently where we have seen a breakdown of correlations and traditional market relationships, the USD did not react as many would have expected.
A look across the daily charts of our 7 major pairs not only reveals this divergence, but also highlights the importance of understanding volatility, particularly with respect to its affect on the ATR of an instrument.
As we can see from the charts only three pairs escaped triggering a volatility candle, and these were the USD/CAD, the USD/CHF and Cable with the USD rising strongly in the first two pairs, but falling in...
Although the market is focused on tomorrow's release of the FOMC minutes, an event guaranteed to cause a degree of market volatility, it is the release of the CPI and Core CPI numbers earlier in the session which are probably even more important. Of the two releases it is the Core CPI the FED pays the most attention to, and a big influence on the likely timing of any rise in interest rates.
Meantime, the USD appears to have found its mojo once again following last week's dramatic fall, with the eurodollar bearing the brunt of this resurgence.
The daily chart for the eurodollar is particularly interesting where weakness for the pair started last week with the failure to break and hold above the VPOC (volume point of control) in the 1.1167 price region. Friday's close below the 100 ma appears to have been the catalyst for a pick up in bearish sentiment for eurodollar which saw the pair close yesterday's trading...
Ahead of the release of the Monetary Policy Minutes from the RBA, and tomorrow's CPI number for the UK, it's been interesting to see how the Aussie and British pound have been behaving in today's trading session. And of the two currencies it has been the British pound which has seen some heavy selling against both the USD and the Aussie.
The hourly chart of the CSI (currency strength indicator) highlighted the extent to which the British pound was overbought, and Cable's failure to take out the resistance at 1.5688 signaled the start of a reversal in fortune for the pair and a move lower of over 100 pips. And it has only been a combination of the VPOC at 1.5585 and support at 1.5578 that has prevented any further move lower for Cable.
Moving to the GBP/AUD here too we have seen a move lower for the British pound with the pair eventually finding support at 2.1094 from which we have...
In the current media speculation surrounding the impact of the PBOC decision to revalue/devalue the yuan, particularly on how this may (or may not) affect the FED's decision about raising interest rates, it is easy to forget two things. First, the fundamental news releases which too will add their own layer of volatility, and second Greece, which today is back centre stage as the Greek parliament meets today in emergency session to ratify the latest bail out deal.
Today's key releases are primarily in the US with retail sales, core retail sales and the unemployment claims due. And of these it is the retail sales numbers which the market will be focused on primarily because they may give some guidance as to the FED's thinking about interest rates.
Meantime in this morning's trading the USD has been broadly higher against all the major currencies except the British pound, but with the US session due to start shortly, Cable too may simply fall...
Have been reading that carnage is expected and word is EUR/USD has already dropped to 1.1029 - although my MT4 hasn't started as yet, so we will have to wait & see. Meantime here are some levels for some of the euro pairs :
EUR/USD - was already bearish & shorts at CFTC increased last week. Putting the 1.1029 aside for the time being - 1.1052 is the first level of support & if breached 1.0819 comes into play where a high volume node on the VPOC awaits.
EUR/JPY - Has been in congestion for a number of days having failed to breach the 140.78 price point & now looking to turn bearish. The immediate level below is at 137.57 with any move through here then likely to test the 136.69 region. The VPOC continues to remain in the 134.94 region for the time being and should this be taken out then a longer term bearish trend will ensue.
EUR/AUD - The interest rate...
The RBNZ certainly livened things up overnight - I don't remember seeing quite so many gaps or such strong moves delivered by one currency! NZD is pretty illiquid at the best of times, so any volatility will magnify any moves.
With the NZD it's a case of the central bank making it very clear further rate cuts are on their way & with the US finding some bullish sentiment this morning - NZD/USD looks set for a further fall. So far this morning the pair has managed to find some support at the 0.70 region, but a quick look at the weekly and monthly chart reveals the extent of this bearish sentiment. with the month chart in particular, where the price is now at the 200 ma.
The VPOC ( volume point of control) is now well above the current price action and adding further weight to the bearish sentiment. In addition, with several LVN (low volume nodes) we are likely to...
