Asian stocks drop, Nikkei nears 50-DMA support

Omkar Godbole FXStreet Contributor

Asian stocks pulled back from a 19-month high, with Japan’s Nikkei nearing 50-DMA support of 19,228 levels despite Fed minutes indicating cautious approach to policy tightening.

Nikkei hit a low of 19,262 levels and was last seen trading around 19,336; down 0.22% on the day. Stocks in Australia retreated 0.3%. Wall Street continued its record run on Wednesday, with Dow closing 0.2% higher; its ninth straight record daily close.

Overnight strength in the Japanese Yen weighed over the exporter shares in Japan. Moreover, the US dollar was offered across the board as the Fed minutes carried the usual ambiguous language with regards to the timing of the next Fed rate hike.

Moreover, the Fed remains market-dependent and unless markets don’t boost rate hike bets at least above 60%, the Fed would not want to raise rates.

However, what that tells us is that nothing really has changed despite the Trump Bump and rising inflation expectations.

The Dollar index dropped from the high of 101.72 to 101.16 on Wednesday before staging a minor recovery to 101.35 levels in Asia.

Author

Omkar Godbole

FXStreet Contributor

Omkar Godbole, editor and analyst, joined FXStreet after four years as a research analyst at several Indian brokerage companies.

EUR/USD meets initial support around 1.1800

EUR/USD remains on the back foot, although it has managed to reverse the initial strong pullback toward the 1.1800 region and regain some balance, hovering around the 1.1850 zone as the NA session draws to a close on Tuesday. Moving forward, market participants will now shift their attention to the release of the FOMC Minutes and US hard data on Wednesday.

GBP/USD bounces off lows, retargets 1.3550

After bottoming out just below the 1.3500 yardstick, GBP/USD now gathers some fresh bids and advances to the 1.3530-1.3540 band in the latter part of Tuesday’s session. Cable’s recovery comes as the Greenback surrenders part of its advance, although it keeps the bullish bias well in place for the day.

Gold remains offered below $5,000

Gold stays on the defensive on Tuesday, receding to the sub-$5,000 region per troy ounce on the back of the persistent move higher in the Greenback. The precious metal’s decline is also underpinned by the modest uptick in US Treasury yields across the spectrum.

Ethereum Price Forecast: BitMine extends ETH buying streak, says long-term outlook remains positive

Ethereum (ETH) treasury firm BitMine Immersion continued its weekly purchase of the top altcoin last week after acquiring 45,759 ETH.

UK jobs market weakens, bolstering rate cut hopes

In the UK, the latest jobs report made for difficult reading. Nonetheless, this represents yet another reminder for the Bank of England that they need to act swiftly given the collapse in inflation expected over the coming months.

Ripple slides to $1.45 as downside risks surge

Ripple edges lower at the time of writing on Tuesday, from the daily open of $1.48, as headwinds persist across the crypto market. A short-term support is emerging at $1.45, but a buildup of bearish positions could further weaken the derivatives market and prolong the correction.