Asia FX Handover: Big 4 Bank Forecasts 3x RBA Cuts in 2019

It felt the calm after the storm following events from the European and US session, with minor range overall as markets digested weaker global data.
The exception for FX is AUD, which is the weakest major after Westpac Bank upped their dovish forecasts for 3x RBA cuts in 2019.
President Trump is reported to be contemplating punishments for currency manipulators (spoiler alert, he means China) whilst also saying issues with ‘dangerous’ Huawei could be resolved with a trade deal.
NZ PM Arden has signalled lower growth for New Zealand.
Japan’s key inflation gauge hit a 4-year high, although the milestone read was undermined as it was driven by a spike in tourism fees. All other reads hit their low expectations.
WTI made an almost feeble effort to lift itself from $60, following its worst session of the year. Japanese equities gapped lower, yet gaps were filled as they tried to track Chinese shares cautiously higher. US index futures have ticked slightly higher but, overall, look like sheepish moves compared with yesterday’s rout.

Matt Simpson, CFTe, MSTA CityIndex

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Matt Simpson, CFTe, MSTA

CityIndex

Matt Simpson is a certified technical analyst who combines charts and fundamentals to generate trading themes.

EUR/USD flirts with daily highs, retargets 1.1900

EUR/USD regains upside traction, returning to the 1.1880 zone and refocusing its attention to the key 1.1900 barrier. The pair’s slight gains comes against the backdrop of a humble decline in the US Dollar as investors continue to assess the latest US CPI readings and the potential Fed’s rate path.

GBP/USD remains well bid around 1.3650

GBP/USD maintains its upside momentum in place, hovering around daily highs near 1.3650 and setting aside part of the recent three-day drop. Cable’s improved sentiment comes on the back of the Greenback’s irresolute price action, while recent hawkish comments from the BoE’s Pill also collaborate with the uptick.

Gold clings to gains just above $5,000/oz

Gold is reclaiming part of the ground lost on Wednesday’s marked decline, as bargain-hunters keep piling up and lifting prices past the key $5,000 per troy ounce. The precious metal’s move higher is also underpinned by the slight pullback in the US Dollar and declining US Treasury yields across the curve.

Crypto Today: Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP in choppy price action, weighed down by falling institutional interest

Bitcoin's upside remains largely constrained amid weak technicals and declining institutional interest. Ethereum trades sideways above $1,900 support with the upside capped below $2,000 amid ETF outflows.

Week ahead – Data blitz, Fed Minutes and RBNZ decision in the spotlight

US GDP and PCE inflation are main highlights, plus the Fed minutes. UK and Japan have busy calendars too with focus on CPI. Flash PMIs for February will also be doing the rounds. RBNZ meets, is unlikely to follow RBA’s hawkish path.

Ripple Price Forecast: XRP potential bottom could be in sight

Ripple edges up above the intraday low of $1.35 at the time of writing on Friday amid mixed price actions across the crypto market. The remittance token failed to hold support at $1.40 the previous day, reflecting risk-off sentiment amid a decline in retail and institutional sentiment.