EURUSD, 240 min
In the last Currency Movers report I pointed out several technical factors that should cause the bulls to be cautious. And they sure did! EURUSD tumbled down from the 1.1463 resistance identified in the report. Today the pair is trading above 1.1151 support level we identified in the chart in September 18th analysis. Today’s low has been 1.1153. Stochastics is now getting oversold while price is trading near lower Bollinger Bands and the 50 day SMA. We have a pin bar in the 240 min chart as buyers are trying to step in but there has been no follow through. The resistance at 1.1210 has been holding them back. This suggests price should move further into support and closer to the 50 day SMA before it can attempt a turnaround. As the pair is at support it is likely that the weakness is soon overdone and we’ll first see a slowdown in the rate of decline and then a countermove to the down move that took place over the last two days. If this takes place the 1.1280 looks like a realistic target for the move after which I’m expecting further decline. Significant daily support and resistance levels are at 1.1093 and 1.1280.
Yesterday’s dollar-driven decline in EURUSD came at the wake of hawkish remarks from Fed’s Bullard and, to a lesser extent, Lacker. Bullard, presently a non-FOMC voter, said that there is a “powerful case to be made” for rate lift-off. This contrasted with ECB’s Praet, who said in remarks after the European close that the central bank would “forcefully” react should the inflation environment worsen.There is a bearish case to be made for EURUSD despite the Fed’s relatively dovish guidance, as the dollar has yield advantage, particularly at the long end, and with the ECB likely to counter any euro strength with its own dovish guidance.
The September UK CBI industrial trends undershot expectations, unexpectedly dropping to a -7 reading in the headline total orders reading, down form 0 in August, though above July’s cycle low at -10. Export orders dove sharply to -24, down from -6 in August, while the expectations balance fell to a +9 reading, the lowest since October 2013. The strong pound, which is near seven-year highs in trade-weighted terms, is blighting the export performance, which continues to be the weak link in the manufacturing sector.
Praet: ECB would “forcefully react” if inflation objective pushed out further. Praet was careful not to sound too pessimistic about global headwinds, saying that the ECB doesn’t “want to create of course self-fulfilling expectations at the same time by conveying pessimistic messages” and repeated the central bank’s message from the last meeting that it is “too early to draw firm conclusions about the environment, it is too early to tell”, but he also stressed that the ECB doesn’t want to deny “that the situation can be very unfavorable in the European context”. The central bank is hedging its bets while watching global developments, but also forex markets. The currency may well be the decisive factor that could trigger further ECB easing, even if Draghi won’t admit that. Earlier in the day Praet still said that there are some signs that inflation has turned the corner, but the comments confirm that the ECB wants to send a dovish message and Draghi will have a chance to clarify the ECB’s stance at tomorrow’s testimony to the European Parliament.
SF Fed study says market based inflation expectations are poor predictors of future inflation. Remember the FOMC has been distinguishing between market based measures and survey based measures in its recent policy statements, noting that the former had moved lower while the latter had remained stable. The market based measures that were studied were TIPS break evens and inflation swap rates, while the authors looked at 2 types of survey measures, including the Philly Fed’s Survey of Private Forecasters and the Blue Chip Financial Forecasts, along with methods incorporating “no-change” forecasts based on current CPI values. According to the study published in the current FRBSF Economic Letter, “a simple constant inflation rate corresponding to the Federal Reserve’s 2% inflation target consistently performs best.” Maybe the FOMC shouldn’t worry too much about the softening in the market based measures?
Currency Movers Charts
Hawkish sentiment from the Fed officials was seen to move USD higher and EUR down after EURUSD turned lower from the level we identified in Friday’s report. This has brought the EUR pairs near support levels today. EURUSD is trading at a pivotal support while EURJPY has declined to daily Bollinger Bands near levels that attracted buyers on September 4th. EURAUD moved at first closer to a support at 1.5566 (also at Bollinger Bands) but rallied and created a 4h pin bar. EURGBP looks weaker as it is trading below resistance levels but has no clear support before 0.7170.
Safe haven currency JPY has gathered momentum today as global stock markets are down together with commodities such as Copper and Crude Oil. AUDJPY is falling after violating support at 85.82 and forming a shooting star candle three days ago.
Significant daily support and resistance levels for these pairs are:
Main Macro Events Today
Australian House Price Index: The price index for residential properties for the weighted average of the eight capital cities rose 4.7% in the June quarter 2015. The index rose 9.8% through the year to the June quarter 2015.
UK Public Sector Net Borrowing: UK government borrowing surpasses expectations in August data, rising to GBP 12.1 bln in the non-financial figure. The consensus forecast had been for GBP 9.2 bln, while borrowing was up by GBP 1.4 bln on August 2014. The picture looks better in the financial year to date (from April), with borrowing down GBP 4.4 bln over this period. While the deficit has halved under the government’s austerity program, net government debt still remains over 80% of GDP.
US Housing Price Index: markets expect the Housing Price Index number to come in at 0.4%. Home price index rose 0.2% in June from May’s 0.5%. On an annual basis, prices are up 5.6% y/y.
