Oil

Oil prices, including Brent and WTI, dropped more than 5% after yesterday’s FED meeting regarding interest rates. Oil.WTI dropped below $69 - the lowest level since March 24, 2023. Prices fell from $71.5 per barrel to as low as $63.6 per barrel. However, prices have rebounded slightly from lows. Higher volatility was caused by rising concerns about the global economy and demand. The re-emergence of US banking problems and OPEC+'s unwillingness to intervene are also contributing factors. The collapse of First Republic Bank has increased the risk of recession in the United States and China's post-COVID demand recovery is slower than expected. The oil producers' calendar remains unchanged, with the next meeting scheduled for June.

Looking at the technical analysis of OIL.WTI on the H4 interval, after midnight the downward trend intensified and a tests of the lows from March occurred at $63.6 per barrel. However, the price decrease was temporary and bulls responded immediately at the support level resulting in a pro-growth hammer formation on the chart. If the upward trend continues, attention should be paid to two resistance levels. The first, at $71.30 is derived from measuring the 38.2% Fibonacci retracement of the last downward wave. The second resistance level is around $74 and set at the previous local lows and the next Fibonacci retracement - 50%. On the other hand, If the bearish sentiment extends, the support level should be at $66.30, which is the upper limit of the 1:1 formation breakout.

USDCAD

As is usually the case for the first Friday of a new month, traders will be offered jobs data from the United States and Canada. Both reports will be released at 1:30 pm BST today, meaning that USDCAD is likely to experience a jump in short-term volatility around that hour.

Of course, the US report will draw more attention. The NFP report for April is expected to show an employment gain of 180k as well as an uptick in the unemployment rate to 3.6%. Wages are expected to increase 0.3% MoM but on an annual basis wage growth is seen staying unchanged at 4.2% YoY. Labour market data has been quite solid as of late and yet it did not discourage Fed from hinting that a pause in rate hike cycle is coming at the next meeting in June. Having said that, the impact of potential NFP beat today may be more short-term and won't alter rate expectations. When it comes to Canadian data, employment is expected to have increased by 21.5k jobs in April while the unemployment rate also ticked higher, from 5.0 to 5.1%.

Taking a look at USDCAD chart at D1 interval, we can see that the pair has been trading sideways recently. An attempt to break above the 1.3675 resistance zone was made at the turn of April and May but bulls failed to push the pair above it. Pair started to pull back and is now testing and support zone ranging around 1.35 handle and marked with 200-session moving average (purple line), previous price reactions as well as 23.6% retracement of the upward move launched in June 2021.

EURJPY

Beginning of a new week on the markets has been calm so far. Worse than expected German industrial production reading for March did not have much impact on EUR or European indices. German industrial output dropped 3.4% MoM, missing -1.3% MoM estimate quite significantly. One more piece of data from Europe will be released today - Sentix index for May at 9:30 pm BST. However, it is unlikely to trigger major moves on the EUR market as well. Speech from ECB Lane at 3:00 pm BST may trigger some short-term volatility. We also had release of Bank of Japan minutes during the Asian session but it turned out to be a non-event as it related to early-March meeting which was still chaired by Kuroda.

Taking a look at EURJPY at D1 interval, we can see that the pair has managed to halt recent correction at 147.50 support zone and is now trying to recover back to recent highs in the 151.00 area. A move above 149.00 mark was made today. Should the upward move continue and the pair breaks above the 151.00 area, a test of the upper limit of the upward channel, currently in the 153.20 area, cannot be ruled out in the near-term.

NZDUSD

The NZDUSD pair shows more bullish bias to move away from 0.6290, which supports the continuation of the bullish wave for the rest of the day, and the way is open to achieve our next target at 0.6380, supported by the EMA50 that carries the price from below, noting that holding above 0.6290 is important to achieve these targets.

The expected trading range for today is between 0.6260 support and 0.6370 resistance

GBPUSD presses on the channel’s support line

GBPUSD pair ended yesterday negatively, to test the intraday bullish channel’s support line, noticing that the price begins today with slight decline to move below this support, while stochastic reaches the oversold areas now, to form positive motive that we are waiting to assist to push the price to resume the main bullish wave and head to achieve gains that reach 1.2850.

Therefore, the overall bullish trend will remain valid for the upcoming period, supported by the EMA50, and the price needs to breach 1.2625 to confirm resuming the bullish track, noting that failing to achieve the required breach will push the price to achieve additional decline that its next target reaches 1.2550.

Gold

Gold price continues its bullish trend trajectory on Tuesday. The price of gold is currently trading around $2,030 per ounce, which is a +0.41% daily change. The upward trend channel has provided continuous positive support to gold prices - marked with dark blue parallel lines.

The stochastic indicator is beginning to gather positive momentum, indicating a potential upward movement in the price of gold. The resistance level near the range of $2,060-2,070, marked with a green line, has been tested multiple times, suggesting a strong price action and weakening resistance.

Based on these factors, it is probable that the Gold price continues to rise in the upcoming days. The first positive target is expected to be around $2,049. A break of this level could push the price above $2,068 as the next target. However, a break below the support level of $2,000 would be considered as a negative factor and could initiate a bearish correction wave. In such a scenario, the next support line is in the range of $1,960-1,970. The overall structure is bullish for gold.

Traders and investors should monitor the price action around these key levels and wait for confirmation of a breakout or reversal before making trading decisions. Technical indicators and additional market analysis could provide further insights into the potential direction of gold prices.

GBPUSD

GBPUSD pair kept its stability above the beached resistance of the bullish flag, to keep the bullish trend scenario valid for the upcoming period, supported by the EMA50, waiting to visit 1.2700 followed by 1.2850 levels mainly.

Stochastic current negativity might cause some temporary sideways fluctuation before resuming the expected rise, which will remain valid conditioned by the price stability above 1.2565.

Crude Oil

Crude oil price faces clear negative pressure to move below 72.80 level now, which urges caution from the upcoming trading, as consolidating below this level will stop the expected bullish trend and put the price under additional negative pressure that targets visiting 71.55 as a next negative station, while the price needs to step above 72.80 to manage to resume the bullish wave that its targets begin by breaching 73.80 to confirm heading towards 76.10.

The expected trading range for today is between 71.50 support and 75.00 resistance.

GBPUSD

Should the Bank of England deliver onto those expectations and hike rates by 25 basis points, the main rate would climb to 4.50% - the highest level since October 2008. However, as such an outcome is well expected and priced in, investors will look for hints on what comes next.

Should we see an increase in the number of MPC members who favor keeping rates unchanged, GBP may find itself under pressure. Last time, 7 MPC members opted for increasing rates while 2 preferred keeping them unchanged. Also, a new set of economic projections will be released and it will be closely watched, especially inflation forecasts. UK CPI inflation slowed in March but stayed above 10% YoY mark and should new forecasts show higher inflation expectations, it could be a bullish signal for GBP as it would hint at a need for more rate hikes. Markets currently see a rate peak at around 5.00% in September-November 2023.

Taking a look at GBPUSD chart at H1 interval, one can see that the pair has been pulling back this morning. Pair dropped below the support zone marked with 38.2% retracement of the upward impulse launched on May 2, 2023 (1.2585 area). Downward move did not stop there with pair continuing to move lower and dropping below 200-hour moving average (purple line). An attempt to climb back above this moving average can be spotted at press time but should bulls fail to do so, the pair may look towards a test of the support zone marked with 50% retracement in the 1.2557 area.

EURTRY

Indices from Asia-Pacific are trading mostly higher today. Nikkei gains 0.7%, S&P/ASX 200 adds 0.1%, Nifty 50 jumps 0.4% and Kospi trades flat. Indices from China trade up to 1.2% higher

European and US index futures trade slightly above Friday's cash closing prices

NBC reports that meeting to discuss debt ceiling between US President Biden and congressional leaders was scheduled for Tuesday

With almost all votes counted, no single candidate managed to score an over-50% result in Turkish presidential elections, meaning that a run-off between incumbent president Erdogan and opposition candidate Kilicdaroglu is likely to take place in 2 weeks (May 28, 2023)

According to preliminary results, Erdogan's party AKP managed to win parliamentary elections with 35.6% votes and secure 268 seats in 600-seat parliament

Turkish lira has been rather calm so far today as investors wait for an official confirmation that run-off in presidential elections will be needed

According to Financial Times, G7 countries and European Union consider banning restarting of the Russian gas pipelines if Moscow has previously halted supplies via them

According to Reuters, G7 also aims to more strictly target sanctions evasion involving third countries

Iraqi oil minister said he does not expect OPEC+ to announce more oil output cuts at June meeting

ECB's De Guindos said that rate hike cycle in EMU is on the final stretch and that's why ECB decide to return to 25 basis point moves

According to Reuters report, it was advised during BoJ-government meeting that Bank of Japan considers changing its policy approach should CPI and wages keep rising

Energy commodities trade mixed - oil drops 0.3% while natural gas jumps 0.7%

Precious metals advance - gold gains 0.2% while silver and platinum trade 0.3% higher

AUD and NZD are the best performing major currencies while JPY and USD lag the most

Turkish lira is trading a touch higher against USD and EUR today, as a run-off will be needed to decide the next Turkish president. It looks like there are expectations for a tight race with TRY seeing rather muted moves.

EURUSD

Raphael Bostic, head of Atlanta Fed, delivered a speech today. He pointed out that there is still a lot to do on inflation and the economy will have negative impact on price growth (as he expects a slowdown). Bostic sees risk of a recession although it will rather be a short and shallow one.

Bostic stresses that rate cuts this year are not a base case scenario for him and that Fed will not cut rates until well into 2024. However, one should remember that the FOMC dot-plot assumes rate cuts next year. Simultaneously, Fed should maintain an outlook on possible continuation of rate hikes. Overall, Bostic wants to see what impact previous rate hikes will have on the economy.

EURUSD is trading slightly higher on the day after two final days of the previous week were marked with significant strengthening of USD. EURUSD is currently trading below 2 important resistance levels - 1.09 area and 50% retracement of the last major upward impulse.

GBPUSD: Pound ticks lower after concerning UK macro figures

The British pound lost ground early in the European session following the publication of weak macro data from the UK, reducing the chance of a hawkish turn from the Bank of England. The reading for March showed that the unemployment rate in the UK rose to 3.9% against an expected 3.8% and an earlier reading of 3.8%. What's more, the negative overtones of the publication were provided by a big jump in unemployment claims, which came in at 46.7 thousand against an earlier reading of 26.5 thousand (today's reading beat analysts' expectations by more than 49%. Wage growth excluding bonuses is also down and came in at 6.7% y/y vs. the expected 6.8% y/y. At the moment, the money market is pricing in a 30% chance of a halt to the hike cycle at the upcoming BoE meeting in June.

Preliminary data from the UK's tax office showed the first drop in total headcount in more than two years in April, down 136,000 from March.

The GBPUSD pair reacted with declines to today's UK data reading, however, the scale of the sell-off has already been largely negated. The downward impulse stopped at the support defined by the 200-period exponential moving average (golden curve), which is currently the main support on the H4 interval.