USD Mixed, EU and US Equities Slide, but Asians Gain

European and US equities slid yesterday, perhaps as investors remained concerned over high inflation and aggressive tightening by major central banks. However, today in Asia, indices gained, perhaps due to short covering on the last day of the week. In the crypto world, the tumble continued as Tether also broke below its USD peg.

Investors Remain Concerned Over Inflation, but Cover Shorts on Friday

The US dollar traded mixed against the other major currencies on Thursday and during the Asian session Friday. It gained versus EUR, CHF, and slightly against AUD, while it underperformed against JPY and CAD, and fractionally versus GBP and NZD.

This paints a blurry picture with regards to the broader market sentiment, as a strong yen points to a risk-off trading activity, while a sliding franc points otherwise. Thus, in order to clear things up, we prefer to turn our gaze to the equity world. There, major EU indices traded in the red, averaging an around 1% slide each, and although sentiment continued deteriorating during the early US session, as we were approaching the closing bell, things improved, with Dow and S&P closing slightly lower, and Nasdaq entering the positive territory. The gains accelerated in Asian today.

Investors may have continued selling equities due to the US CPI data revealing on Wednesday that inflation slowed by less than anticipated in April. This confirmed the case that the Fed may need to continue with its plans of tightening fast, and although the probability for a 75bps hike has not risen much, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said yesterday that they are prepared to do more than 50bps hikes if needed. In our view, most participants may have remained reluctant to place back bets over a triple hike, due to the core PPI slowing by more than expected. With PPI prices feeding into consumer prices, this could mean that the CPIs may slow more in the months to come.

Another reason why equities kept falling yesterday may be geopolitics. Tensions dialed up after Finland announced that it would apply for NATO membership, with Russia warning that this could result in consequences. But why did Asian markets rebounded and even gained? Perhaps due to short covering before the end of the week. In our view, it was not a buying rally, as the fundamentals still point to further declines in equities in our view. We believe that market participants are in a rebalancing process on the last trading day of the week. With that in mind, we see decent chances for European and US indices to rebound somewhat as well today.

Another development worth mentioning was the extension in the tumble of cryptocurrencies, with Bitcoin falling below 30000 and Ethereum depreciating around 15%, as Tether, the largest stablecoin by market cap, broke below its USD peg. All this was the result of the meltdown in TerraUSD, another stablecoin, which is now trading at USD 0.15.

Euro Stoxx 50 — Technical Outlook

The Euro Stoxx 50 cash index traded higher in afterhours, but that has barely changed the broader picture of the index. It remains well below the downside resistance line drawn from the high of January 5th, and thus, we would see decent chances for the bears to regain control soon.

As we already mentioned, we may see some further recovery in equities today, and thus, we will not get surprised if we see the price breaking above the 3675 barrier, marked by the low of April 27th. However, the bears could still take the reins from near the aforementioned downside line and may push the action back down for another test near 3513, a support marked by the low of May 9th. If they don’t stop there, we may see them diving towards the low of March 7th, at 3385. Another break, below 3385, could extend the fall towards the 3290 territory, marked by the inside swing high of October 19th, 2020.

On the upside, we would like to see a decent recovery above 4025, marked by the high of March 29th, before we start examining the bullish case. The index will already by above the downside line, and thus, the bulls may get encouraged to climb towards the 4180 or 4245 territories, marked by the highs of February 16th and 10th, respectively. If they don’t stop there, then a break higher could set the stage for advances towards the peak of January 5th, at 4395.

EUR/USD — Technical Outlook

EUR/USD fell sharply yesterday, breaking below the key support territory of 1.0470/90, which had been acting as a temporary floor since April 28th. The slide met our next support at 1.0350, which provided strong support back in December 2016 and January 2017, and then, the rate rebounded somewhat. Overall, EUR/USD remains below the downside resistance line taken from the high of March 31st, and thus, we would expect more declines in the short run.

The rebound may continue for a while more, but the bears may take charge again from near the 1.0470 zone. This could result another slide near the 1.0350 barrier, where a break would confirm a forthcoming lower low and perhaps carry extensions towards the 1.0235 zone, marked by the inside swing high of July 2002.

The outlook could become brighter upon a break above 1.0695, marked by the inside swing low of April 25th. This could also signal the break above the downside line taken from the high of March 31st, and may initially target the 1.0760 zone, where a break could carry extensions towards the 1.0845 barrier, marked by the high of April 22nd. If the bulls are not willing to stop there, then we could see them sailing towards the high of the day before, at 1.0935, the break of which could extent the advance towards 1.1025, a level defined as a resistance by the inside swing low of April 1st.

Disclaimer:

The content we produce does not constitute investment advice or investment recommendation (should not be considered as such) and does not in any way constitute an invitation to acquire any financial instrument or product. The Group of Companies of JFD, its affiliates, agents, directors, officers or employees are not liable for any damages that may be caused by individual comments or statements by JFD analysts and assumes no liability with respect to the completeness and correctness of the content presented. The investor is solely responsible for the risk of his investment decisions. Accordingly, you should seek, if you consider appropriate, relevant independent professional advice on the investment considered. The analyses and comments presented do not include any consideration of your personal investment objectives, financial circumstances or needs. The content has not been prepared in accordance with the legal requirements for financial analyses and must therefore be viewed by the reader as marketing information. JFD prohibits the duplication or publication without explicit approval.

CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 72.99% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with the Company. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money. Please read the full Risk Disclosure.

Copyright 2022 JFD Group Ltd.

Originally published at https://www.jfdbrokers.com.