EUR/USD: QE extension is expected, but priced in; signal of eventual tapering?

The EUR/USD pair trades flat at around 1.1680 during the Asian trading session on Tuesday, but broadly seems vulnerable, being close to its five-week low. The major currency pair is under pressure as surging oil prices due to the United States-Israel war with Iran have increased the risks of higher inflation for the Old Continent.

Gold sticks to its positive bias for the third straight day and trades above the $5,350 level heading into the European session on Tuesday. Concerns about a broader regional conflict in the Middle East continue to weigh on investors' sentiment and underpin demand for the traditional safe-haven bullion.

GBP/USD edges higher after three days of losses, trading around 1.3400 during the Asian hours on Tuesday. The technical analysis of the daily chart indicates an ongoing bearish bias, as the pair trades within a descending channel pattern.

Stellar is trading red below $0.16 at the time of writing on Tuesday, after a slight recovery the previous day. Weakening derivatives data caps the recovery, while an unfavorable technical outlook projects a deeper correction for the XLM token in the upcoming days.

At the end of the day, markets do not trade morality or geopolitics. They trade transmission channels. And the only channel that truly matters in this maelstrom runs through the price of energy and the time value of money.

The United States, allied with Israel, struck Iran over the weekend, killing Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. In retaliation, Iran launched missile and drone attacks targeting US military bases across several nations, with attacks from both parties still ongoing, fueling a geopolitical crisis.