Forex Today: Quiet start to a busy week

FXStreet Team FXStreet

Here is what you need to know on Monday, August 17:

The dollar remained intrinsically weak, amid mixed US data and news indicating that the US Congress decided to take a month-long holiday without agreeing on a stimulus package. Major pairs, however, closed the week little changed and held within familiar levels.

The USD/JPY pair was an exception, reaching a fresh August high on the back of resurgent US government debt yields. Inflation and employment data released these days came in better-than-anticipated, fueling hopes of a sooner than expected US economic comeback. The yield on the benchmark 10-year note peaked at 0.72% this week, to settle at 0.70%.

On Friday, US President Trump said in a press conference that he will not cut a deal with Democrats on the coronavirus relief bill because of the money they are seeking for cities and states. Congress members have left for a month-long holiday last Thursday.

Tensions between the US and China continue. On Friday news showed that a review of the trade deal that was supposed to take place over the weekend had been postponed without any new date scheduled.

Wall Street posted a modest advance, but summer doldrums took their toll on equities as the three major indexes remain within limited intraday ranges.

Gold prices collapsed this past week after hitting all-time highs, to stabilize around $ 1,950 a troy ounce. The metal shed some ground on Friday but held around its new comfort zone. Crude oil prices, in the meantime, remained stable, with WTI ending the week at $42.10 a barrel.

Japan is set to report early Monday its Q2 GDP, foreseen -27.2%.

BTC/USD extends sideways grind after failed attempt to take $12,000

Author

FXStreet Team

FXStreet

Composed of a group of economic journalists and FX experts, the FXStreet content team produces and oversees all content published on FXStreet. It provides a purely journalistic approach to the Forex market.

GBP/USD revisits 1.3530; Dollar pushes harder

GBP/USD adds to the weekly correction and recedes toward the 1.3530 zone on Friday. Indeed, Cable faces increasing selling pressure on the back of extra gains in the Greenback, particularly fuelled by Chair Warsh’s speech at the Jackson Hole Symposium and the US NFP Annual Revision (-79K).

EUR/USD breaches below 1.1600, multi-day lows

EUR/USD now accelerates its decline and retreats to seven-day troughs in the sub-1.1600 region at the end of the week. The pair’s pullback comes on the back of the strong rebound in the US Dollar after Chair Warsh delivered a hawkish message in Jackson Hole, while the US NFP Annual Revision came in at -79K.

Gold challenges its 200-day SMA near $4,530

Gold’s decline gathers fresh steam, hitting weekly lows while disputing its critical 200-day SMA near $4,530 per troy ounce. The yellow metal’s increasing weakness comes in response to the generalised upbeat tone in the US Dollar and the widespread rebound in US Treasury yields, as investors continue to reprice a Fed rate hike in September.

Crypto Today: Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP rally loses steam despite steady ETF inflows

Bitcoin is back below $80,000 at the time of writing on Friday, after a second attempt at breaking resistance between $81,000 and $82,000. Meanwhile, Ethereum and Ripple mirror Bitcoin’s cooling trend, with ETH sliding to $2,500 and XRP falling toward $1.40 support.

Week ahead – RBNZ and BoC decide on rates ahead of all-important US NFP

Dollar rebounds ahead of ISM PMI and NFP data. RBNZ is expected to raise rates; focus to fall on forward guidance. BoC is set to remain on hold; will it raise rates in 2027?

Diesel’s record $100 warning: The oil shock hiding in plain sight

The Oil market may look calmer than it did a few months ago, but diesel is sending a very different message. The US diesel crack spread, the premium of ultra-low sulphur diesel futures over WTI, recently surged above $100 per barrel for the first time, reaching an intraday record of just over $102.00.