Trading Week Ahead

A Mixed Week for Currencies

Last week, we saw some mixed results on the currency front as the USD pulled back as yields fell and profit takers set in. A few factors came into play, one being the IMF upgrading their global growth forecasts. Risk majors were far from unified as the AUD had a mixed week, while the EUR strengthened strongly and the GBP fell. After basically 3-months of gains to the JPY, the USDJPY finally succumb to decent seller pressure. Price was unable to get back to the previous week's highs, and I think that gravity looks to have finally caught up.

Staying on the Yen risk majors had a mixed week with the AUD and GBP falling while the all-conquering EUR moved higher.

The Fed Continues Its Support 

The Fed signaled that the central bank is nowhere near to reducing its support for the US economy. The Fed advised that an uptick in prices will most likely be temporary, and any uptick in COVID cases could slow the recovery. Inflation is also seen to be unlikely at this stage. Some of these points don’t do the USD any favors but are supportive of stocks.

Thursday’s unemployment claims came in higher than expected at 744K this was a touch surprising considering the stronger NFP data seen on the previous Friday.

Stocks Had a Stellar Week

Last week was an excellent week for stock indexes. The Dow and SP500 both hit new all-time highs. Tech stocks looked to have a better week as the Nasdaq outperformed the Dow. The S&P500 was a close second; this index does have a decent tech component, so this was a contributing factor in its gains.

Indexes in Europe moved higher, the FTSE and CAC were the better performers for the week. The DAX and Eurostoxx50 failed to find more momentum after amazing weeks prior.

Oil and Gold Highlights

Oil spent most of the week lower but did see some demand come back into the market on Friday. Crude stockpiles came in at -3.5M during the week, and the outlook remains positive on lower stockpiles and demand as economic growth picks up. One worry remains around the current third wave in Europe and what lockdown actions might do to demand.

Gold continues to remain rangebound, currently price trading between 1700 to the downside and 1758 to the upside. The weaker USD gave buyers some direction last week, but for now, price remains in a medium-term downtrend, and we need some direction to give us an idea of who really has control on the short term.

Looking Ahead

This week we have some significant data coming up, US CPI, which remains a bit of a hot topic and US retail sales data which I would think traders will be watching closely to gauge signs of the current US recovery. Back in Australia, we have unemployment data, and this is the first after the end of Jobkeeper in March. Another to watch out for will be the Chinese GDP which is expected to increase by 18.3%.

This information has been prepared for information only and does not constitute an offer or commitment. This information does not constitute investment advice as defined by the rules of the FCA.