EUR/USD: Bears keep the pressure around 1.0430

EUR/USD looks stuck in the 1.0430 region.

Germany labour market report surprised to the downside.

EMU jobless rate ticked lower to 6.6% in May.

The single currency remains under pressure and motivates EUR/USD to navigate in the lower end of the range around 1.0430 on Thursday.

EUR/USD looks to data, risk trends

EUR/USD remains offered and extend the leg lower after being rejected from the 1.0615 region earlier in the week. The corrective downside in the pair comes in response to the resurgence of the risk aversion sentiment and the resumption of the buying bias in the greenback.

In addition, the decline in the German 10y Bund yields - now approaching the 1.40% zone – also collaborates with the sour mood around the European currency on Thursday.

Further selling hurt the euro after the inaction seen in Chair Lagarde in recent comments, as she only reiterated the bank’s intention to raise rates by 25 bps next month, while further rate hikes would hinge on the progress of domestic fundamentals.

Earlier in Germany, Retail Sales contracted 3.6% in the year to May, the Unemployment Rate ticked higher to 5.3% and the Unemployment Change increased by 133K persons, both prints for the month of June.

WANT TO DIRECT TALK OUR MARKET EXPERT CONTACT MONEY LIFE RESEARCH

Gold Price Forecast: XAUUSD hits two-week low, near $1,815 ahead of central bank speakers

Gold remained on the defensive for the third straight day and dropped to a nearly two-week low.

Modest USD strength was seen as a key factor that undermined the dollar-denominated metal.

Recession fears, sliding US bond yields might help limit losses ahead of key central bank speakers.

Gold prolonged this week's rejection slide from the very important 200-day SMA and edged lower for the third successive day on Wednesday. The downtick dragged spot prices to a nearly two-week low, around the $1,816-$1,815 region during the early European session.

The overnight hawkish remarks by New York Fed President John Williams and San Francisco’s Mary Daly lifted bets for a faster policy tightening by the US central bank. This assisted the US dollar to build on the previous day's strong move up, which, in turn, undermined demand for the dollar-denominated gold.

Market participants, however, remain divided over the need for a more aggressive Fed rate hike amid growing recession fears. This, along with a fresh leg down in the US Treasury bond yields and the prevalent cautious market mood, could offer some support to the non-yielding yellow metal and help limit deeper losses.

Traders might also refrain from placing aggressive bets and prefer to move on the sidelines ahead of the key event risk. Fed Chair Jerome Powell, the Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey and the European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde are due to speak at the ECB forum in Sintra, Portugal on Wednesday.

Investors will look for fresh clues about the central bank's tightening path, which will play a key role in driving gold price in the near term. Apart from this, the broader market risk sentiment, the US bond yields, and the USD price dynamics would help determine the next leg of a directional move for the XAUUSD.

WANT TO DIRECT TALK OUR MARKET EXPERT CONTACT MONEY LIFE RESEARCH

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.

WANT TO DIRECT TALK OUR MARKET EXPERT CONTACT MONEY LIFE RESEARCH

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.

WANT TO DIRECT TALK OUR MARKET EXPERT CONTACT MONEY LIFE RESEARCH

Gold Price Forecast: XAUUSD bears have the upper hand below 200-DMA amid hawkish Fed

Gold witnessed some selling on Thursday and was pressured by a combination of factors.

Hawkish Fed expectations underpinned the USD and exerted pressure on the commodity.

Recession fears weighed on investors’ sentiment and should limit losses for the XAUUSD.

Gold continued with its struggle to gain any meaningful traction and remained below the very important 200-day SMA through the early part of the European session. The XAUUSD was last seen trading just below the $1,935 level, down over 0.25% for the day.

The markets seem convinced that the Fed would retain its aggressive policy tightening path and have been pricing in another 75 bps rate hike at the next FOMC meeting in July. The bets were reaffirmed by Fed Chair Jerome Powell, saying that the ongoing rate increases will be appropriate. During his testimony before the Senate Banking Committee, Powell added that Fed is strongly committed to bringing inflation back down and the pace of future rate increases will continue to depend on incoming data. This, in turn, was seen as a key factor that continued acting as a headwind for the non-yielding gold.

Apart from this, the emergence of fresh US dollar buying exerted some downward pressure on the dollar-denominated commodity. The downside, however, seems cushioned, at least for the time being, amid the prevalent risk-off mood, which tends to benefit the safe-haven gold. The market sentiment remains fragile amid doubts that major central banks could hike interest rates to curb soaring inflation without affecting economic growth. Adding to this, the disappointing release of the flash Eurozone PMI prints for June added to worries about a possible recession and weighed on investors' sentiment.

The global flight to safety dragged the US Treasury bond yields lower, which might hold back the USD bulls from placing aggressive bets and further help limit losses for gold. That said, acceptance below a technically significant 200-day SMA favours bearish traders and suggests that the path of least resistance for spot prices is to the downside. It, however, would be prudent to wait for strong follow-through selling before traders start positioning for any further near-term depreciating move. Market participants now look forward to Fed Chair Jerome Powell's second day of testimony for a fresh trading impetus.

WANT TO DIRECT TALK OUR MARKET EXPERT CONTACT MONEY LIFE RESEARCH

GBP/USD pares intraday losses to weekly low, keeps the red ahead of Powell’s testimony

GBP/USD witnessed heavy selling on Wednesday and dropped to a fresh weekly low.

Dovish BoE expectations, recession fears, Brexit woes undermined the British pound.

A goodish pickup in the USD demand further exerted downward pressure on the pair.

The downside seems cushioned as the focus remains on Fed Chair Powell’s testimony.

The GBP/USD pair refreshed its weekly low during the early part of the European session, albeit managing to find some support ahead of mid-1.2100s and recovering a few pips thereafter. The pair was last seen trading around the 1.2225-1.2230 region, still down nearly 0.40% for the day.

The US dollar regained positive traction amid growing market acceptance that the Fed would stick to its policy tightening path and raise interest rates at a faster pace to curb soaring inflation. In fact, the markets have been pricing in another 75 bps rate hike at the next FOMC meeting in July. This, along with a fresh wave of the global risk-aversion trade, boosted the safe-haven USD and exerted downward pressure on the GBP/USD pair.

The British pound was further weighed down by expectations that the Bank of England would adopt a more gradual approach to raising interest rates amid recession fears and the cost of living crisis. The market fears were further fueled by the latest UK consumer inflation data, showing that the headline CPI climbed to a new 40-year high of 9.1% in May. On a monthly basis, the gauge decelerated sharply from a 2.5% increase in April and rose 0.7%.

Apart from this, the UK-EU impasse over the Northern Ireland Protocol of the Brexit agreement further undermined sterling and contributed to the GBP/USD pair's intraday decline. Meanwhile, the global flight to safety triggered a modest pullback in the US Treasury bond yields and held back the USD bulls from placing aggressive bets. This, in turn, was seen as the only factor that assisted the pair to rebound around 65-70 pips from the daily low.

It, however, remains to be seen if the GBP/USD pair is able to capitalize on the intraday bounce as investors await Fed Chair Jerome Powell's testimony before the Senate Banking Committee. Market participants will look for fresh clues about the Fed's policy tightening path, which would play a key role in influencing the USD price dynamics. This, in turn, should assist traders to determine the next leg of a directional move for the GBP/USD pair.

WANT TO DIRECT TALK OUR MARKET EXPERT CONTACT MONEY LIFE RESEARCH

EUR/USD Price Analysis: Downside pressure alleviated above 1.0700

EUR/USD keeps the march north unabated and tests 1.0580 .

There is a 4-month resistance line around 1.0700.

EUR/USD extends the buying bias for the second session in a row and climbs to the 1.0580/85 band on Tuesday.

If bulls push harder, then the pair could attempt a move to the minor hurdle at the June 16 high at 1.0601. Beyond this level comes the 55-day SMA at 1.0642 prior to the 4-month line around 1.0700. Spot needs to clear the latter to mitigate the selling pressure and allow for the continuation of the recovery in the short-term horizon.

In the longer run, the pair’s bearish view is expected to prevail as long as it trades below the 200-day SMA at 1.1155.

WANT TO DIRECT TALK OUR MARKET EXPERT CONTACT MONEY LIFE RESEARCH