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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In all the brouhaha about Greece and the euro it's easy to forget what else is going on in the forex market. Sometimes I feel Greece is taking up too much space in traders' heads at the expense of other markets and currencies. And for a perfect example of what I mean look no further than the continued strength in GBP which has seen some great trends in GBP/NZD & GBP/CAD & I'm still waiting for the GBP/JPY to turn lower, but only once we see a major reversal in risk sentiment.
On both charts the NinjaTrader trend monitor has remained firmly bullish with only a minor transition on the GBP/CAD reflecting the recent pause in the longer term trend. However, moving to the NinjaTrader currency strength indicator to the left of the chart, here we can see that the British Pound, the yellow line, is now moving ever deeper into the oversold region on the daily timeframe, so this trend...
The EUR/USD continues to look bearish as it sits on support between 1.0885 & 1.0890 & just below the VPOC the yellow line on the volume point of control indicator. This level has now been breached on good volume and should take the pair to 1.0863. In addition the trend monitor has also transitioned from blue to red and with the US unemployment data coming up shortly, this could provide further downwards momentum if the numbers are on target or better than expected. The forecast this time around is 271k against a previous of 274k and whilst this is an important number it is the backwash from Janet Yellen's US dollar positive comments which continue to drive the US dollar higher, coupled as always with ongoing concerns over the Greek debt issues, which have yet to be resolved - if ever!
The currency strength indicator is confirming the negative sentiment for the single currency with the orange line, the euro, reaching an...
UK retail sales have given GBP a real boost higher & it's occupying six top spots on the currency matrix. Number was a great improvement & market has temporarily forgotten the negative CPI number.
What's interesting is at 8.00 am at the London open, there was a huge buy of cable off an important order board level at 1.5520 with retail sales then just adding the momentum.
Cable is also benefiting from USD pull back from its recent bullish move higher. The 4hr currency strength indicator is particularly revealing as the USD has been overbought for some time, but is now moving lower. The move higher in the London session has now moved to test the VPOC level in the daily chart, and we are now waiting to see if this afternoon's US data can help to push the GBP/USD through this key level. This is denoted on the chart with the yellow line.
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USD buying has continued into US session, and despite it being a holiday in Canada the USD/CAD has done really well. Question now is how far is USD likely to move higher. The key level is 11,750 on the USDX index which is the support platform which was breached last week & of which we may see a re-test.
Focus overnight is back to AUD & NZD, with a monetary policy statement from the RBA for the first, & inflation expectation for the second. Both AUD/USD and NZD/USD have had a bearish day, although Aussie dollar less so. In addition, whilst we can expect a reaction in both these pairs, we can also expect some interesting moves in the AUD/NZD cross which today has had an 80 pip move to the upside.
Since last Tuesday the pair has traded in a relatively narrow range, 1.0865 to the top & 1.0776 to the bottom, and I do believe the overnight news may be...
Despite it being a holiday across most of Europe for Ascension Day - it's quite lively out there at the moment. We've also just had an unscheduled comments from Mark Carney (not shown on Forex Factory), but came up on Forex Live feed. Greek Fin Min Varoufakis also speaking & even mentioning the word 'reform'.
Meanwhile on the charts it's been more selling of USD which is propelling euro & gbp higher with volatility candles on faster time frames. For cable 1.5788 is a key level being tested up to and including the daily chart. Have reading how a lot of traders are looking to short cable since it went over 1.5550, but it's just not co-operating & the principle reason is the USD which continues to be sold off.
It's only in the EUR/GBP that we have seen some serious GBP selling.
This is an aspect of forex trading David & I will be covering in tomorrow's forex webinars - the importance...
It was an interesting week for the British pound and in particular against the US dollar, with the pair selling off sharply on Friday and closing with a wide spread down candle on the daily chart. The move lower was in stark contrast to the recent trend for Cable which had been firmly bullish rising in tandem with the EUR/USD as US dollar weakness prevailed on the dollar index. The move on Friday came as no surprise to those traders using a currency strength indicator, with the British pound moving to a deeply overbought region on the indicator, and counterbalanced with the US dollar being equally oversold in the slower timeframes. With Thursday's election now on the horizon, and with a slew of opinion polls due for release in the next few days, these are continually signalling a close result with no party likely to have an overall majority in Parliament. As a result we can expect to see further...
For forex traders in London yesterday morning, eurozone PMI and UK retail sales were the main items of fundamental news. And it was Cable again which provided us with some important trading lessons.
The first was how we need to be aware of positioning ahead of any major news release. In the run up to the retail sales number, Cable had been basing around the 1.4920 support platform, having come off the 1.4975 high of the previous evening, thereby creating the start of what looked to be a down candle.
However, as always is it the daily chart which is so important, providing us with a more macro view of any currency pair, and here Cable has been very bullish since bouncing off major support in the 1.4898 region.
Just ahead of the news Cable started to move up, and with the release the usual volatility occurred, which triggered a candle with a 56 pip spread - taking out both longs and shorts!...
Ahead of the German ZEW data this morning, markets are positioning for a move in the euro dollar, with the euro now heavily oversold and the US dollar equally over bought in the faster timeframes. Using the currency strength indicator in multiple timeframes provides a fast and visual picture of currency strength and weakness, with the euro (the gold line) now deeply oversold from the the 5 minute to the 30 minute timeframe, and preparing to reverse the longer term bearish sentiment ahead of the news. Apart from the ZEW, the only other ongoing euro news is of course Greece which continues to weigh on the single currency.
Finally remember that any market or currency can remain over extended for some time, and as always patience is the key coupled with the price action on the charts. The currency strength indicator is always the starting point to identify potential strength and weakness in an individual currency. Then it's time to consider...
The main focus overnight was in Australia with the RBA deciding to hold the current cash rate at 2.25%, with no cut. This decision was against the backdrop of declining commodity prices and a slowdown in China with many expecting the rate to be cut to 2.00%. As a result the Aussie dollar strengthened on the news against many of the major currencies, with another nice move on the EUR/AUD on the 15 minute chart.
The Quantum accumulation and distribution indicator initially defined the support and resistance region with the 1.4360 being the key level of support and a region that had been tested on several occasions prior to the news. The bearish sentiment was confirmed with the trend monitor to the bottom of the chart which continues to remain bearish in this timeframe with the move lower accompanied by high volume and confirming the short term bearish trend. To the left of the chart and the Ninjatrader currency strength indicator,...
