FTSE 100 darts higher as aviation and hospitality stocks lead

UK stocks rose sharply today as investors cheered the strong performance by Next and as Covid fears eased. The FTSE 100 rose by more than 1.7%, with retailers and travel-related stocks doing well. Shares of Next, the giant British retailer rose by more than 8% after the company reported strong quarterly results. The firm also upgraded its full-year earnings to more than 750 million pounds. Also, it said that it will reimburse the government of 29 million pounds it received last year. Other companies that did well were IAG, Whitbread, AB Foods, and Tesco. The FTSE rose to 6,987, the highest level since Friday this week.

The Japanese yen rose slightly after the latest trade numbers. According to the country’s statistics agency, exports increased by 48.6% in June after rising by 49.6% in May. This increase was better than the median estimate of 46.2%. Further, the country’s imports increased by 32.7%. As a result, Japan’s trade surplus expanded from a deficit of 189 yen in May to 383 billion in June. These numbers showed that the country’s economy did relatively well in June. Meanwhile, the Bank of Japan also released minutes of the previous meeting. In it, the bank decided to leave interest rates, quantitative easing, and yield curve control policies intact.

The Australian dollar (AUDUSD) declined today after the relatively weak preliminary retail sales numbers. The data showed that the overall sales dropped by 1.8% in June after rising by 0.4% in the previous month. This decline was worse than the median estimate of -0.5%. Economists expect that the July numbers will be even worse because of the ongoing wave of coronavirus. The wave has mostly affected Victoria and New South Wales states and pushed their local governments to order some restrictions. At the same time, the government’s rollout of vaccines has been relatively slow.

UK100

The FTSE 100 index rose sharply today as fears of the new Covid wave eased. The index rose to a high of £6,987, which was the highest level since Friday. As it rose, the index moved above the important resistance at £6,945. The signal line of the MACD made a bullish crossover against the histogram. Also, the price moved above the envelopes and the 25-day moving average. While the bullish trend is likely to remain, another sharp decline can’t be ruled out in the next few sessions. This is because relief rallies tend to be relatively short-lived.

EUR/USD

The EURUSD pair has been relatively muted this week as investors wait for the upcoming ECB interest rate decision. The pair is trading at 1.1772, which is between the descending channel shown in yellow. The pair also seems to be forming a falling wedge pattern on the three-hour chart. It is still below the 25-day moving average while the histogram and signal line of the MACD are below the neutral line. Therefore, the pair will likely remain in this range during the American session and then break out higher after the ECB decision.

BTC/USD

The BTCUSD pair bounced back after falling to the lowest level this month yesterday. The pair moved above the lower line of the descending channel shown in yellow on the four-hour chart. It also crossed the 25-day and 15-day moving averages while the RSI has moved above the oversold level. Therefore, the coin may keep rising as bulls target the next key resistance at 32,000.