First, a few words about the behavior of the major currency pairs and cryptocurrency pairs over the past week:
- EUR/USD. The behavior of this pair at the beginning of the week was determined by the fear of the players over possible political changes in Italy. As a result, the pair dropped to the values of a year ago, closely approaching the 1.1500 mark. However, the situation in the eurozone eventually entered a calmer channel, the Italian populists agreed on the composition of the government, and the dollar gradually began to lose its positions. Against this background, the euro managed to win back about 215 points from the "American", and even the positive data on the US labor market on Friday (NFP increased from 159K to 223K) could not fundamentally change the situation. As a result, the pair completed the five-day period almost in the same place, where it started, in the zone of 1.1660;
- The dynamics which are similar to the previous pair were demonstrated by the pair GBP/USD. First it fell to the level of November 2017, but the support in the 1.3200 zone was invincible for it, and the pair went up to the height of 1.3345. Then the bears started to counter attack, but after a short struggle, the victory was with the bulls. As a result, the pair managed to gain a foothold above a fairly strong level of the last two weeks - 1.3300, and completed the week at 1.3345;
- USD/JPY. At the beginning of the week, the yen continued its growth, but then began to lose positions. And this was despite the fact that the index of business activity in the manufacturing sector in May increased slightly. It is possible that the fall of the yen is due to the actions of the Central Bank of Japan, which reduced the purchases of government bonds for the first time since August 2017. The result of a week-long contest of bulls and bears is a draw, the end of the trading session was met by the pair at 109.52;
- Cryptocurrencies. If you compare the graphs of the bitcoin and major altcoins, they quite accurately repeat the movement of major currency pairs: a fall in the first half of the week and a return to the starting positions, in the second one. The capitalization of the crypto market as a whole has not practically changed either and is $330 billion.
As for the forecast for the coming week, summarizing the opinions of a number of analysts, as well as forecasts made on the basis of a variety of methods of technical and graphical analysis, we can say the following:
- EUR/USD. Both the oscillators and the trend indicators on H4 took a neutral position, while on D1, they still recommend selling the pair. As for analysts, they mainly focus is on the "trade wars" of the United States and news about the introduction of customs duties on the import of aluminum in relation to the EU countries, Mexico and Canada now. In this regard, most of them (55 %) tend to the fact that the pair can climb to the zone 1.1800-1.1830. At the same time, graphical analysis on H4 specifies that afterwards it is not ruled out to go down to support in the area of 1.1600.
In the longer term, the number of bull supporters among experts increases to almost 70%, and the targets are indicated at heights of 1.2000 and even 1.2200. As for the bears, in their opinion, the pair will not be able to overcome the resistance at 1.1800 and the seven-week long downtrend will continue; - GBP/USD. Indicators for this pair are very similar to those for EUR/USD. Experts' opinions do not differ too much either, 60% of them expect that the pound will be able to rise to 1.3420, and, in case of its breakdown, reach the zone 1.3500. The next resistance is 100 points higher.
However, the problems of Great Britain connected with the withdrawal from the EU have not disappeared. And, in case of negative economic news, the pound will continue its decline, reaching a local bottom in the zone of 1.3085. Graphical analysis on D1 agrees with this scenario, pointing to another support at 1.2900; - USD/JPY. We talked above about the reduction of bonds purchase by the Central Bank of Japan. The market is only assessing the situation so far, but the big players may well decide to move the yen further down. Moreover, some of the high-ranking Japanese officials already express clear concern about the possible escalation of trade wars into the Land of the Rising Sun as well.
In the meantime, the opinions of both analysts and indicators have been divided into three almost equal parts - one third are for the fall of the pair, one third are for its growth and another third support the sideways trend. Supports are at the levels of 108.95, 108.65 and 107.50. Resistances are 110.00, 110.45 and 111.10; - Cryptocurrencies. The analysis of the market shows that not only the digital currencies themselves are subject to collapse, but also the participants of this market. For example, the OKCoin crypto-exchange, which occupied the first place two years ago, is now in the 188th place. In general, during this time, 8 out of 10 crypto market leaders have lost their positions.
The launch of the futures for cryptocurrencies, as well as pessimism of institutional investors has had a negative impact both on the current dynamics and on forecasts. As a result, most likely, we should not expect the same take-off of the exchange rate of virtual money, as we saw in June last year.
Now, almost all major crypto-pairs are repeating the movements of their leader - BTC/USD, which, while reducing volatility, continues to consolidate around the horizon 7,150.
If we follow the theory of graphical analysis, we now see the formation of a figure called Pennant. However, the direction of the further breakdown obviously depends not on the Forex theorists, but on the decisions and actions, primarily of the major regulators.
In the case of a rebound upward, one can expect the bitcoin to move to the height of 11,700. The start for this will be the return of the pair BTC/USD to the zone above 9,000. In case of negative developments , we will soon see the bitcoin in the 5,000-6,000 zone. In the upcoming week, most likely, the bitcoin will test the support in the zone 7,025-7,200.
As for the altcoins, as already mentioned above, the Ethereum (ETH/USD), the Litecoin (LTC/USD), and the Ripple (XRP/USD) will most likely follow the bitcoin in the near future without taking any independent action.
Roman Butko, NordFX
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