GBP/USD remains vulnerable, though volatility will drift lower

GBP/USD is on the back foot around 1.1200 as the UK political drama deepens. The British pound remains vulnerable as market pricing for rate hikes looks excessive.

UK political soap opera continues

“The UK political soap opera continues, but Jeremy Hunt’s appointment as Chancellor has separated the politics from economic policy.”

“Ignoring the noise in Westminster, we are left with a dramatic U-turn in fiscal policy, which is now tight enough to harden the economic landing and make the 5.2% that is priced-in for UK rates in 12 months’ time look excessive, outright and relative to the 4.9% priced in for the Fed, or the 3.1% priced for the ECB. This leaves sterling vulnerable, even from here, though surely volatility will drift lower.”

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Germany's Lindner: Not following British down the path of expansionary fiscal policy

German Finance Minister Christian Lindner said on Thursday that they will mobilise Germany's economic strength when necessary, as reported by Reuters.

Regarding the German government's decision to implement a price brake on gas and electricity while providing funding of up to €200 billion for an "economic defence shield," Linder said that these measures should not fuel inflation.

"We are not following the British down the path of expansionary fiscal policy," the minister explained.

Market reaction

The EUR/USD pair retreated from session highs following these comments and was last seen trading at 0.9705, where it was down 0.33% on a daily basis.

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EUR/USD Price Analysis: Interim top in place?

EUR/USD regains composure after the earlier drop near 0.9900.

Bullish attempts should meet initial hurdle near 1.0100.

EUR/USD reverses the initial pessimism, including a test of the vicinity of the 0.9900 zone on Monday.

The recent failure to advance beyond 1.0100 leaves this region as a potential near-term top, while the 0.9900 neighbourhood seems to offer quite a decent contention for the time being. The breach of the 2022 low at 0.9899 (August 23) could sponsor a deeper pullback to the December 2002 low at 0.9859.

In the longer run, the pair’s bearish view is expected to prevail as long as it trades below the 200-day SMA at 1.0819.

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EUR/USD Price Analysis: A deeper pullback could see 0.9859 retested

EUR/USD clocks new cycle lows in the sub-0.9900 zone.

Further losses could test the December 2002 low near 0.9860.

EUR/USD accelerates the daily losses and briefly breaks below the 0.9900 level, or new cycle lows.

Further weakness remains in the pipeline for the time being. Against that, the breakdown of the 2022 low at 0.9899 (August 23) should leave the door open to a probable deeper retracement to the December 2002 low at 0.9859.

In the longer run, the pair’s bearish view is expected to prevail as long as it trades below the 200-day SMA at 1.0845.

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GBP/USD climbs to fresh daily high, further beyond 1.2200 amid sustained USD selling

GBP/USD regains positive traction on Monday amid the prevalent USD selling bias.

Diminishing odds for more aggressive Fed rate hikes continue to weigh on the USD.

A softer risk tone, rebounding US bond yields to limit the USD losses and cap the pair.

The GBP/USD pair jumps back above the 1.2200 mark during the early part of the European session, attracting fresh buying on the first day of a new week. Spot prices, however, still remain well below a one-month high at around the 1.2245 touched on Friday.

The US dollar languishes near its lowest level since July 5, which is turning out to be a key factor lending support to the GBP/USD pair. Market participants continue to scale back their expectations for more aggressive rate hikes by the Federal Reserve amid worries about an economic downturn. This, to a larger extent, overshadows Friday's stronger US Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) and continues to weigh on the greenback.

The British pound in contrast is underpinned by rising bets for a 50 bps rate hike by the Bank of England – though, that said, a combination of factors could cap gains for the GBP/USD pair. The recent optimistic move in the equity markets has run out of steam amid growing recession fears. This, along with a modest bounce in the US Treasury bond yields, should help limit the downside for the USD and act as a headwind for the major, at least for now.

Investors might also refrain from placing aggressive bets and prefer to wait on the sidelines ahead of confirmation from the Bank of England policy meeting on Thursday. Apart from this, important US macro data scheduled at the beginning of a new month would determine the next leg of a directional move for the GBP/USD pair. A rather busy week kicks off with the release of the ISM Manufacturing PMI, which could provide some trading impetus to the major.

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EUR/USD Price Analysis: Further consolidation appears in store

EUR/USD remains within a consolidative mood near 1.0250.

Extra side-lined trade appears favoured in the near term.

EUR/USD fades the initial pessimism and refocuses on the upper end of the recent range near 1.0260.

The current consolidative mood carries the potential to extend further, at least until the FOMC meeting due later in the week. The upside should remain limited by the weekly high around 1.0280, while the low-1.0100s are expected to hold the downside for the time being.

In the meantime, the pair is expected to remain under downside pressure while below the 5-month support line around 1.0490.

In the longer run, the pair’s bearish view is expected to prevail as long as it trades below the 200-day SMA at 1.0991.

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GBP/USD slides to three-day low, around 1.2230 area amid modest USD uptick

GBP/USD witnessed some intraday selling on Tuesday and dropped to a three-day low.

Brexit woes, less hawkish BoE expectations continued acting as a headwind for sterling.

Rising US bond yields revived the USD demand and contributed to the intraday selling.

The GBP/USD pair retreated nearly 60 pips from the daily swing high touched during the early European session and dropped to a three-day low, around the 1.2235-1.2230 region in the last hour.

The latest Brexit-related development over the Northern Ireland Protocol has raised the risk of fresh tension between Britain and the European Union. In fact, the UK House of Commons on Monday voted 295 to 221 in favour of a controversial bill that would unilaterally overturn part of Britain's divorce deal from the EU agreed in 2020.

Apart from this, speculations that the Bank of England (BoE) will adopt a more gradual approach towards raising interest rates amid fears of a UK recession acted as a headwind for the British pound. This, along with the emergence of some US dollar buying dragged the GBP/USD pair away from over a one-week high touched the previous day.

The risk-on flow pushed the US Treasury bond yields higher, which, in turn, assisted the USD to reverse its modest intraday losses. That said, reduced bets for a more aggressive policy tightening by the Fed might hold back the USD bulls from placing aggressive bets and help limit deeper losses for the GBP/USD pair, at least for the time being.

The recent decline in commodity prices now seems to have eased concerns about the persistent rise in inflation. This, along with the worsening economic outlook, forced investors to reassess expectations for a faster policy tightening by the Fed. Hence, the market focus will remain glued to Fed Chair Jerome Powell's appearance on Wednesday.

The BoE Governor Andrew Bailey is also due to speak at the ECB forum in Sintra, Portugal on Wednesday, which would help investors determine the next leg of a directional move for the GBP/USD pair. In the meantime, traders on Tuesday will take cues from the US macro data - the Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index and Richmond Manufacturing Index.

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GBP/USD Price Analysis: Recaptures critical trendline resistance at 1.2275

GBP/USD bulls are fighting the bearish odds, re-attempting the upside.

UK political jitters, mixed Retail Sales data could remain a drag on cable.

Cable bulls struggle to yield a break above the key 1.2275 hurdle.

GBP/USD is moving back and forth in a 40-pips narrow range so far this Friday, now attempting another bounce towards 1.2300.

The renewed upside in the major is fuelled by a bout of weakness seen in the US dollar across its main peers, as risk sentiment receives a fresh boost. Easing rate hike expectations from the ECB and BOE amid increasing recession risks is helping calm the market nerves.

Bulls, however, could face a hard time extending the latest uptick, as the UK political jitters remain in play. A senior Tory party member resigned after the ruling Conservative Party lost two crucial seats in the parliamentary by-elections on Friday. The latest news put PM Johnson’s leadership in jeopardy, which could undermine the sterling’s upswing.

Further, the UK Retail Sales for May came in mixed, earlier on, with the previous figures revised downwards. The discouraging fundamentals point to the BOE’s dilemma of fighting inflation while balancing the economic growth. UK Retail Sales drop 0.5% MoM in May vs. -0.7% expected

Attention now turns towards the two-tier data from the US for fresh trading impetus, as risk sentiment is likely to lead the way into the weekly close.

Looking at cable’s four-hour chart, the latest uptick in the price has taken out the falling trendline resistance at 1.2275. Should bulls manage to hold above the latter on a four-hourly candlestick closing basis, a test of the bearish 100-Simple Moving Average (SMA) at 1.2336 will be inevitable.

Ahead of that, the 1.2300 round figure will offer stiff resistance to GBP buyers. The Relative Strength Index (RSI) is pointing higher above the midline, allowing room for more upside.

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US dollar to weaken over short-term on a 50 bps hike from the Fed – Nordea

Economists at Nordea believe the Federal Reserve will hike by 50 bps, but uncertainty is very high. If they are right, the USD could weaken in favour of other G10 currencies.

USD could strengthen on a 75 bps hike from the Fed 

“We believe the Fed will hike by 50 bps this week but we admit that the uncertainty is very high. If we are right, we will likely see the USD weaken again in favour of other G10 currencies such as EUR, NOK, SEK, DKK, etc over the short-term. 

“If we are wrong, the USD could strengthen somewhat more against the rest of G10 currencies.”

“From a technical standpoint, the USD is close to being overbought against most G10 currencies currently.”

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US Dollar Index looks cautious around 101.70 ahead of NFP

DXY trades without a clear direction near 101.70.

Activity in US yields remain muted and near Thursday’s close.

US Nonfarm Payrolls, Unemployment Rate next of note in the docket.

The greenback alternates gains with losses around the 101.70 region when measured by the US Dollar Index (DXY) on Friday.

US Dollar Index remains vigilant ahead of Payrolls

Market participants remain vigilant ahead of the publication of the key May’s Nonfarm Payrolls later on Friday, motivating the index to hover around the 101.70 zone amidst the generalized lack of direction in the global markets.

Activity in the US cash markets show the same performance so far, with yields along the curve looking consolidative in the upper end of the weekly range.

As indicated, Nonfarm Payrolls for the month of May are due later in the NA session seconded by the Unemployment Rate and the ISM Non-Manufacturing. Additionally, the final Services PMI is also due followed by the speech by FOMC’s Governor L.Brainard (permanent voter, centrist).

What to look for around USD

The dollar came under pressure in the past session and returned to the area below the 102.00 mark against a cautious backdrop ahead of the release of May’s labour market figures.

Renewed weakness in the dollar came in response to the rising perception that inflation might have peaked in April, which in turn supports the idea that the Fed may not need to be as aggressive as market participants expect when it comes to raising the Fed Funds rates.

In the meantime, the Fed’s divergence vs. most of its G10 peers coupled with bouts of geopolitical effervescence, higher US yields and a potential “hard landing” of the US economy are all factors still supportive of a stronger dollar in the next months.

Key events in the US this week: Nonfarm Payrolls, Unemployment Rate, Final Services PMI, ISM Non-Manufacturing (Friday).

Eminent issues on the back boiler: Powell’s “softish” landing… what does that mean? Escalating geopolitical effervescence vs. Russia and China. Fed’s more aggressive rate path this year and 2023. US-China trade conflict. Future of Biden’s Build Back Better plan.

US Dollar Index relevant levels

Now, the index is retreating 0.01% at 101.72 and faces the next contention at 101.36 (55-day SMA) followed by 101.29 (monthly low May 30) and then 99.81 (weekly low April 21). On the upside, a break above 102.73 (weekly/monthly high June 1) would open the door to 105.00 (2022 high May 13) and finally 105.63 (high December 11 2002).

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Dow Futures Up 55 Pts; Core PCE Data in Focus

U.S. stocks are seen opening slightly higher Friday, rallying into the long weekend, helped by a reassessment of the Federal Reserve’s tightening bias as well as some strong retail sector earnings.

At 7 AM ET (1100 GMT), the Dow Futures contract was up 55 points, or 0.2%, S&P 500 Futures traded 14 points, or 0.3%, higher and Nasdaq 100 Futures climbed 70 points, or 0.6%.

The main equity indices on Wall Street posted strong gains Thursday, with the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average closing over 500 points, or 1.6%, higher, while the broad-based S&P 500 gaining 2% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rising 2.7%.

These averages are on track to snap long losing streaks ahead of the Memorial Day holiday, with the Dow and S&P 500 both over 4% higher for the week and the Nasdaq Composite up 3.4% on the week.

Helping the better tone this week has been the take-away from the minutes of the last Federal Reserve meeting, which indicated that the central bank could slow down its tightening if it sees signs inflation is on a downward trend. 

This puts the spotlight on the release of the core personal consumption expenditure index, at 8:30 AM ET (1230 GMT), which is the Fed's preferred measure of inflationary trends. This is expected to fall to 4.9% on an annualized basis in April, from 5.2% the previous month.

A batch of strong earnings from the retail sector has also boosted market sentiment this week, with the likes of Macy’s (NYSE:M), Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM), Dollar Tree (NASDAQ:DLTR) and Dollar General (NYSE:DG) all posting healthy gains.

Retail earnings continue Friday, with Big Lots (NYSE:BIG) due to report, but there will also be attention on Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA), which reported better-than-expected quarterly results after the close Thursday, and Gap (NYSE:GPS), which slashed its full-year profit guidance. 

Workday (NASDAQ:WDAY) will also be in focus after missing earnings forecasts late on Thursday and giving disappointing guidance.

Oil prices edged lower Friday, consolidating around a two-month high on expected demand growth at the start of the summer driving season in the United States.

Also propping up the market is the continued expectation that the European Commission will eventually obtain the unanimous support of all 27 bloc member states for its proposed new sanctions against Russia, despite Hungary’s opposition to date.

By 7 AM ET, U.S. crude futures traded 0.4% lower at $113.67 a barrel, after gaining 3.4% during the previous session, while the Brent contract traded 0.4% lower at $113.70, after a gain of 2.7% on Thursday.

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Eurozone Economy Grew 0.2% in 1Q; France Stagnates, Germany Avoids Recession

The Eurozone economy grew by 0.2% in the first three months of the year, but its post-pandemic growth weakened sharply toward the end of the period under pressure from the war in Ukraine and record-high inflation.

Eurostat's figures, released on Friday, mean that gross domestic product was up 5.0% from a year earlier, a time when the region's economy was still laboring under the worst of the effects from the pandemic. 

Both figures were largely in line with expectations, but masked some big divergences from consensus among some of the region's biggest member states. French GDP undershot expectations to stagnate in the quarter, while German GDP rose 0.2%, defying fears that it would register a second straight quarter of negative growth, thanks to strong investment spending.

At the same time, Eurostat said that inflation in the Eurozone hit a new record high since the creation of the single currency. Consumer prices rose 7.5% in April, up from 7.4% in March. While the slower rise in the headline rate suggests that an absolute peak for inflation may be near, underlying price pressures remained strong: core CPI rose by over 1% for the second month running, and Eurostat's harmonized measure of annual inflation excluding food and energy accelerated far more than forecast to 3.9% from 3.2% last month.

The euro rose by around half a cent against the dollar in the course of the morning as national GDP data were published in advance of the Eurozone numbers. By 5:20 AM ET (0920 GMT), it was at $1.0576, up 0.8% on the day. A bounce in Chinese assets in response to promises of more economic policy support from Beijing had also helped sentiment toward the euro and to risk assets more broadly.

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EUR/USD Price Analysis: Extra pullbacks seen below 1.080

EUR/USD fades the pre-ECB uptick to the 1.0920 zone on Thursday.

Recent lows around 1.0800 emerge as the next contention area.

In light of the ongoing price action, extra losses in the pair remain in the pipeline in the short-term horizon. Against that, a break below the so far monthly low at 1.0808 (April 14 should pave the way for a quick visit to the 2022 low at 1.0805 (March 7) before the May 2020 low at 1.0766 (May 7).

While below the 200-day SMA, today at 1.1440, the outlook for the pair is expected to remain negative. 

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Silver Price Analysis: XAG/USD rallies into the low $25.00s amid safe-haven bid, despite higher yields

Silver has seen a decent push higher on Monday amid geopolitical/China lockdown worries, shrugging off the headwind of higher yields.

XAG/USD has rallied back to near $25.20, up over 40 cents, and is eyeing late March highs at $25.85.

Fed speak and US inflation will be in focus this week and could test bullish conviction.

Risk-off trade in global equities as markets fret about recent news regarding the Russo-Ukraine war and the risk of a further widening of lockdowns in China has offset the negative impact of a continued sharp rise in global yields on precious metals markets. Indeed, though US 10-year yields have rallied a further 3-4bps to a fresh multi-year high above 2.75%, thus increasing the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding assets (like precious metals), spot silver (XAG/USD) trades with impressive on the day gains of more than 1.7%.

XAG/USD has rallied more than 40 cents from opening levels near $24.75 to current levels around $25.20 and, in doing so, broken to the north of its 21-Day Moving Average at $24.92. Technical buying on the break above a downtrend that had been in play since early March certainly seems to have helped. Bulls will now be eyeing a test of late March highs at $25.85 ahead of a potential run towards last month’s highs near $27.00.

But the silver bulls won’t be declaring victory for the week just yet, given a plethora of key upcoming risk events. A barrage of Fed policymakers will be speaking in the coming days (with a total of four appearing on Monday alone) and are likely to reiterate recent hawkish messages. But the main event(s) of the week will be the release of US Consumer and Producer Price Inflation data on Tuesday and Wednesday which, if they surprise to the upside, could exert even more pressure on the Fed to be hawkish.

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Dollar riding high after index hits 100 for first time in nearly two years

The U.S. dollar index strengthened to 100 for the first time in nearly two years on Friday, supported by the prospect of a more aggressive pace of Federal Reserve interest rate hikes.

The greenback has gained ground on a basket of rivals over the past month, particularly against the euro, which has been pressured by investor concerns about the economic costs of war in Ukraine and a potentially nail-biting election in France.

The dollar index rose as high as 100 in early European trading hours, its best level since May 2020. It later lost some momentum and was last broadly flat at 99.844.

The index is up 1.3% this week, which would be its biggest increase in a month, backed by hawkish remarks from several Federal Reserve policy makers who are calling for a faster pace of interest rate increases to curb rapid inflation.

This week's release of the minutes of the Fed's March meeting showed "many" participants were prepared to raise interest rates in 50-basis-point increments in coming months.

On the other side of the dollar's rally, the euro dropped to a new one-month low of $1.0848. It later recovered and was last broadly flat on the day at $1.08770.

Meeting minutes from the European Central Bank published on Thursday suggested its policy makers are keen to act to combat inflation, but the eurozone has so far taken a more cautious tack than other central banks, weakening the euro.

A tightening election race in France between president Emmanuel Macron and far-right candidate Marine Le Pen has added to pressure on the euro, raising investor concerns about the future direction of the euro zone's second-biggest economy, though Macron is still ahead in polls.

"The upcoming French presidential election, with the first round on Sunday, is also adding to current negative EUR sentiment," currency analysts at MUFG said in a note.

The dollar extended its gains against the Japanese yen, hitting 124.23, its highest in over a week and approaching last month's near seven-year high of 125.1.

The yen has steadied this month after tumbling in March, but remains under pressure as the U.S. raises interest rates and the Bank of Japan intervenes in the bond market to keep rates low.

Sterling lost ground versus the dollar, and was last down a quarter of a percent at $1.30400.

In cryptocurrency markets, bitcoin was broadly unchanged at $43,430.

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GBP/JPY consolidates in a range around 162.00 mark, downside remains cushioned

GBP/JPY struggled to capitalize on its modest intraday gains back closer to over a one-week high.

The cautious market mood underpinned the safe-haven JPY and capped the upside for the cross.

Subdued USD demand benefitted the GBP and extended some support, at least for the time being.

The GBP/JPY cross surrendered its modest intraday gains and was last seen trading in the neutral territory, around the 161.80-161.75 region.

The cross attracted some dip-buying near the 161.40 area on Thursday and climbed back closer to over a one-week high touched the previous day, though the uptick lacked bullish conviction. The European equity markets recovered from the overnight selloff, which undermined the safe-haven Japanese yen and extended some support to the GBP/JPY cross.

Apart from this, comments from Bank of Japan board member Asahi Noguchi, saying that the central bank must stick to its ultra-easy policy despite rising inflationary pressures, also weighed on the JPY. On the other hand, some cross-driven strength stemming from the fall in the EUR/GBP cross benefitted sterling amid subdued US dollar price action.

The combination of factors did provide an intraday lift to the GBP/JPY cross, through the prevalent cautious market mood kept a lid on any meaningful upside, at least for the time being. The market sentiment remains fragile amid fading hopes for a diplomatic solution to end the war in Ukraine and the prospect of more Western sanctions on Russia.

Hence, the focus will remain on new developments surrounding the Russia-Ukraine saga amid absent relevant market moving economic releases from the UK on Thursday. The incoming geopolitical headlines would influence the risk sentiment, which, in turn, will drive demand for safe-haven assets, including the JPY, and provide impetus to the GBP/JPY cross.

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