First, a review of last week’s events:
- EUR/USD. During the whole week, the European currency was pushed up not only by the growth of the Euro Stoxx 600 index, accompanied by the pigeon rhetoric of the ECB Head Mario Draghi, but also, above all, by an optimistic attitude regarding the exit conditions (and perhaps not the exit) of the UK from the EU. As a result, the pair re-consolidated within the medium-term corridor 1.1215-1.1570, in which it has been moving since end October 2018, and even approached its central line, reaching a height of 1.1338 on Wednesday, March 13.
Thursday, March 14, turned out to be the only bad day for the European currency. It became known on this day that there would be no meeting of the leaders of the United States and China, Donald Trump and Xi Jinping, in March, and it may happen only in April. This news again aroused investors' interest in the dollar, though not for long, and the pair could be seen at 1.1345 on Friday. As for the end of the trading session, thanks to a strong University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index, the pair met it 20 points lower, at the level of 1.1325; - GBP/USD. Most experts expected strengthening of the British currency and its growth in March first to the February high (1.3350), and then 200 points higher. This forecast starts to come true: last week's high was fixed at the height of 1.3380, and the pair completed the five-day marathon in the area of a very strong resistance level of 1.3300.
The weekly amplitude of oscillations reached 420 points. And if you look at the pair’s chart, it somehow resembles a cardiogram, whose jumps and falls are related to what was happening these days in London. The Parliament of Great Britain voted against a repeated referendum and spoke in favor of postponing Brexit's deadline to June 30. At the same time, the “hard” exit scenario, without a deal with the EU, was rejected. Now, Prime Minister Theresa May will have to bow to the European Union with a request to postpone Brexit. But the EU {0reaction to this is another question, since all 27 countries of this community should give their consent to this. And what will happen with the new agreement is also unclear. If the parties could not agree for more than two years, what can they do in the next three months? - USD/JPY. As most analysts predicted, the pair remained within the ascending channel, which began at the very beginning of January 2019, and almost reached the bar at 112.00. It stayed only 10 points below this height, but the head of the Bank of Japan, Haruhiko Kuroda, managed to halt the fall of his national currency.
Economic performance of Japan does not look best. The trade deficit is the largest in 6 years, and the reduction in exports to China is the highest in 2 years. This is partly due to the celebration of the New Year in China, but the fact remains that Japan has suffered greatly from the slowdown in global economic growth. The planned increase in sales tax for 2019 does not add optimism either.
However, according to Kuroda, things are not all that bad. “At present,” he said at a press conference on March 15, “our main scenario assumes the recovery of the economies of China and the eurozone in the second half of this year.” “And the Japanese economy itself remains in moderate expansion, and the impulse to achieve the inflation target of 2%, remains unchanged.” - Cryptocurrencies. There is such a famous philosophical paradox, called Buridan's Ass. This is a parable of the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle, and its meaning lies in the problem of choice. There is a donkey dying of hunger, and it stands exactly in the middle between two absolutely identical heaps of hay. Which one to choose? According to the parable, the donkey could not decide and, in the end, died of hunger.
There are no donkeys in the cryptocurrency community, there are bulls and bears, but even they have been roaming along one line for many weeks, not knowing which way to go in order to get enough profit.
The above is a metaphor. But the fact that the price of Bitcoin has consolidated around $3,900 is a fact. It is for the third week that the maximum volatility does not exceed 200-300 points. Some experts hopefully call this the end of the accumulation phase and the lull before a storm. But what is considered a storm?
As predicted, the BTC/USD pair moved in the $3,850-4,050 corridor last week. Ethereum (ETH/USD) and Litecoin (LTC/USD) demonstrated similar modest volatility. And it was only Ripple (XRP/USD) that showed several spikes, although later everything calmed down and returned to normal.
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. On the one hand, the slowdown in US GDP and the prospects for economic recovery in the Eurozone play in favor of the European currency. On the other hand, Trump’s threats to launch a new round of economic wars against the EU are causing alarm for the future of the Euro. As a result, most experts (65%) believe that the pair will continue to balance in the range of 1.1215-1.1570. At the same time, positive information on Brexit will contribute to its targeted advancement to the upper boundary of this channel. The nearest strong resistance is in the 1.1400 zone, the next one is 100 points higher.
On Wednesday, March 20, the US Federal Reserve interest rate decision and the traditional press conference of Jerome Powell, the head of this organization, await us. There will most likely be no surprises for the first issue, and the rate will remain unchanged so far. Most of the experts (60%) believe that its next increase will occur only in September or even later. But Powell can make adjustments to these forecasts in his speech, and then the pair may turn down, break down the lower border of the channel 1.1215, and return to the March 7 low, 1.1175. About 15% of experts do not even rule the decline of the pair in March-April to the area of 1.1000-1.1100;
- GBP/USD. On Tuesday, March 19 and Wednesday, the 20th a block of macroeconomic data from the UK will be published, and on Thursday the 21st, the decision of the Bank of England on the interest rate. But all these events are fading compared to the next episode of the series called Brexit: there will be another vote in the Parliament on the deal with the EU on March 20, which will certainly cause the pair to increase its volatility.
The pair completed the past week in the zone of a very strong resistance level 1.3300, which it has been trying to overcome since last June. Whether this zone will become a level of support depends on the note on which this meeting of the Parliament ends, and also what signals will come from the Bank of England the next day. 70% of analysts, supported by 90% of trend indicators and oscillators on D1, are optimistic, considering that the pair will be able to rise to the level of 1.3470. The next target is 1.3600.
An alternative point of view is supported by 30% of experts. According to them, the pound has already exhausted its potential, and the pair is facing lateral movement in the channel 1.2960-1.3300. Support/resistance levels are 1.3080 and 1.3200; - USD/JPY. The basic forecast for this pair remains the same: 75% of analysts believe that the uptrend will continue, the pair will overcome the bar at 112.00, after which it is expected to move in the side channel 112.25-113.70, as it was in last November-December.
The forecast that is drawn by graphical analysis on D1 looks more restrained: lateral movement within 111.35-112.70.
As for indicators, 70% of them, both on H4 and D1, are colored green, 20% are gray, neutral, and only 10% are red.
In the case of a trend reversal, support levels are 109.10, 110.25 and 110.75; - Cryptocurrencies. If you look at the Bitcoin chart, you have a bad feeling about another disaster. Look at the segment from mid-July to mid-November 2018: gradual decrease in volatility, consolidation, calm and, as a result ... a drop in quotes by almost 45%, - from $6,500 to $3,660.
And now take a look at the period from mid-November to today. You see absolutely the same picture: a gradual decrease in volatility, consolidation, calm and, as a result ... But what the result will be, is still unknown. The crypto market is known for its unpredictability. Although, 70% of specialists vote for the fall of the pair BTC/USD in spring below $3,000.
As for the forecast for the near future, it remains unchanged: most likely, the pair will continue to move along the horizon of $3,900 with quotes spikes by 200-300 points in one direction or another. It should be noted that the trading conditions offered by the brokerage company NordFX make it possible to profit intraday even on most minor fluctuations of cryptocurrencies. Trading takes place on the MT4 and MT5 platforms familiar to traders, commissions are minimal, and just $100 for MT5 or $300 for MT4 is enough to open a buy or a sell position with a volume of 1 Bitcoin (1 lot).
Roman Butko, NordFX
Notice: These materials should not be deemed a recommendation for investment or guidance for working on financial markets: they are for informative purposes only. Trading on financial markets is risky and can lead to a loss of money deposited.
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