EURUSD, Daily
EURUSD daily price has been in a momentum driven mode since clearing to the upside the previous resistance now turned support (1.1280) level. This upward momentum on price has been done on the back of mostly disappointing Eurozone data; however, the market has interpreted last week’s release of the U.S. Feds FOMC meeting minutes as a reason to sell off the USD, therefore, proving short term support for the EUR. Moving forward, stochastic oscillator analysis is starting to look overextended, indicating that momentum may start to slow. Price is also nearing the 260 period (1 year) SMA leaving me with the technical view that the EURUSD remains at risk for a fall towards the 1.1280′s, unless we see a clean break above the 1.1460′s that could open up the way for the 1.1530′s.
On Tuesday, we saw that the German ZEW investor expectations drop was much more pronounced than anticipated, with optimists only marginally outnumbering pessimists now. The index has been falling steadily since March and the decline in investor sentiment clearly reflects growing concerns about the health of the global economy and the impact of slowing growth in emerging market economies on advanced countries. The expectations index for the U.S. dropped sharply in October, and the reading for the Eurozone also declined. The German ZEW decline was not a total surprise in the wake of the VW emission scandal, the refugee crisis and, of course, uncertainty about the global growth outlook.
Global stock markets were weaker on Tuesday, as disappointing trade news from China continues to influence investor sentiment, and signs of disinflation from Europe. Also, profit taking on U.S. markets added to the selling pressure after the Dow Jones posted a 7-week high last week.
Currency Pairs, Grouped Performance (% change)
AUD has been correcting lower in the wake of a 2 week advance, AUDUSD buyers have emerge around the 0.72 area and a potential 10,50 SMA bull cross may be forming on the daily. The NZD has been trading higher as the New Zealand economy continues to grow, supported by strong home sales. The USD is still softer as markets continue to add pressure for USD buyers with the impact of a delayed rate hike fresh on traders mind, as well as disappointing retail sales data.
Significant daily support and resistance levels for these pairs are:
Main Macro Events Today
• GBP Claimant Count Change: UK unemployment unexpectedly dipped to a new cycle low of 5.4% in the official ILO figure for August. This is below the BoE’s 5.5% NAIRU marker, which is the non-accelerating inflation rate of unemployment, below which the central bank expects inflation pressures to build. Other parts of the labour report showed the claimant count rising by 4.6k in September, which is worse than expected as the median forecast was for a 2.5k decline. The claimant count rate remained at cycle lows of 2.3%. Wage data was perky, though within expectations. The with-bonus figure rose 3.0% y/y in the three months to August, up from 2.9% previously. This is a strong rate of real improvement in households spending power, given that CPI is at -0.1% y/y, and the BoE will be monitoring this closely with unemployment now south of 5.5%.
• EUR Eurozone Industrial Production: Eurozone industrial production dropped 0.5% m/m in August, in line with median expectations and indications from national data last week. The annual rate dropped to 0.9% y/y from 1.7% y/y in the previous month. Confidence indicators continue to suggest ongoing expansion, but also a slowdown in growth momentum, and even if the broadening of developments is encouraging, the knock to the German economy from the emission scandal and the slowdown in emerging economies is also raising concerns about the outlook and adding to the arguments of the doves at the ECB.
• USD Retail Sales: U.S. retail sales rose 0.1% in September, and fell 0.3% ex-autos. The disappointing data will add to expectations of no Fed rate hike in 2015. The 0.2% headline August gain was bumped down to unchanged, though July’s 0.7% was bumped up to 0.8%. The 0.1% ex-auto gain from August was revised lower to -0.1%. Sales excluding autos, gasoline, and building materials edged up 0.1% after a 0.2% increase in August (revised down from 0.5%). Motor vehicles and parts climbed 1.7% last month. Gas station sales fell 3.2%. Small declines were registered in electronics, building materials, food, general merchandise and non-store retailers. Clothing rose 0.9%, as did sporting goods, with furniture prices up 0.6%. Health care costs were unchanged.
