Will ECB end rate hikes in July?

EURUSD is pulling back today, following a steep rally that took place last week. Last week's advance was driven by ECB rate hike on Thursday. ECB President said at a post-meeting press conference that further tightening will likely be needed.

According to Gediminas Simkus, chief of Lithuanian central bank and ECB member, a rate hike in July should be delivered and it is not a matter of discussion. However, Simkus also said that ECB is nearing rate peak and it is too early to declare what decision will the Bank make at a meeting in September.

Money markets are almost fully pricing-in a July rate hike and an over-60% chance of a similar move in September.

EURUSD is pulling back noticeably today and is looking towards an important support zone, marked with 61.8% retracement of the last major downward impulse. This area was tested on Friday already but bears failed to break below. Moreover, a lower limit of the Overbalance structure can be found slightly below and further strengthens a support in the area.

Silver

USD strengthening and ETF outflows pressure silver prices

Silver is trading over 2% lower today, with the move being driven by significant strengthening of the US dollar triggered by better-than-expected US housing market data for May. Solid data makes the market think that another rate hike may be looming in July, given recent hawkishness of the Federal Reserve.

Apart from the strong US dollar and high US yields, we are also observing ETFs selling out their gold holdings. Silver ETFs sold more than 650 thousand ounces of silver yesterday while gold ETFs sold almost 30 thousand gold ounces, what was the fifteenth consecutive day of ETF sales. ETF sold almost 1% of their total silver holdings since the beginning of the year.

From a technical point of view, we can see that silver price has been pulling back since June 9, 2023 when price tested 50% retracement and 50-session moving average. Local lows from June 5 and June 15, which can be found slightly below 23.6% retracement, are being tested today. Next important supports in-line can be found in the $22.60 area, or local lows from May 25, 2023, as well as in $22.20 area, marked with 200-session moving average. Divergence with EURUSD points to silver being excessively oversold but it should be said that silver tends to be an underperformer at times precious metals struggle.

GBPCAD Technical + Signal

Looking at the daily chart, the GBPCHF pair consequently dropped value from 1.6917. We have the "upper long wick" candle in the daily time fram suggesting possible decrease in the price with SL above the wick.

Zooming to the 4H time frame, the price reacted to 1.67992 - 1.67921 support area. The market for this instrument is considered bullish as long as this level is intact, and another rise to 1.6917 would be possible.

Trigger chart is the 1H time frame. Entry price is 1.6806 with the first target at 1.6847 followed by 1.6917.

USDJPY

The USDJPY is forming a double top pattern on the 1H chart, reacting to the resistance at 142.24. The pair couldn’t close above the aforementioned level.

By zooming out to the 4H chart, we see an "upper long wick" candle giving a signal with a risk of getting stopped above the last high and a 1 to 1 ratio reward around 141.27.

UK100

Britain's main benchmark UK100 is the weakest European index today, losing more than 1%. The upcoming - likely hawkish - decision by the Bank of England by no means signals the end of tightening in the British economy. While it is uncertain whether rates will rise by 25 or 50 bps, the market will almost certainly have to swallow a higher 50 bps BoE hike - today or in August. Yesterday's reading indicated that UK inflation in May appears to have stabilized at excessively high levels. Core CPI was unchanged at 8.7% y/y - the market had expected 8.4% y/y. Also, the core CPI , which was expected to remain unchanged at 6.8% y/y, accelerated to 7.1% y/y - the highest level in 30 years.

The difficult situation could prompt the Bank of England to an extremely restrictive cycle if the BoE prioritizes the fight against inflation. In such a situation, the baseline scenario seems to be economic damage, which is generally not good for the performance of firms and consequently the stock market. With inflation anchored too high and a period of below-trend growth, a stagflationary scenario is a sizable threat to the British economy. As long as the labor market remains relatively strong, the market has no reason to be overly concerned, however, macro uncertainty has been reflected in the quotations of British indices recently.

Looking at the chart of FTSE (UK100) contracts, however, we see that the upward trend line is maintained although the index has dropped below the SMA200 (red line) indicating a possible further weakening of momentum. In addition, looking at the index's quotations since February, this year, we can juxtapose them with the technical formation of a rising wedge from which a breakout usually takes place at the bottom. RSI indicators near oversold and MACD confirm considerable weakness in the bulls - further decline without an upward correction would therefore have to be outright 'capitulation'. The market's reaction to the BoE minutes and decision may prove crucial.

Oil - Morning Wrap

Feud between Russian Ministry of Defense and PMC Wagner escalated into a rebellion over the weekend with the latter taking control of a few Russian cities and marching an armored convoy towards Moscow

However, a deal between Kremlin and PMC Wagner was brokered by Belarusian president Lukashenko and the short-lived rebellion was ended

Given lack of any significant resistance from the Russian army against Wagner's advance on Moscow, war analysts wonder whether the uprising was staged

As Wagner's mutiny started and ended before the opening of markets, we do not see any major reaction to the events. Oil and precious metals opened slightly higher

Indices from Asia-Pacific traded mixed during the first session of a new week. Nikkei dropped 0.1%, S&P/ASX 200 declined 0.4%, Kospi gained 0.4% and Nifty 50 gained 0.1%. Indices from China traded 0.3-1.5% lower

European index futures point to a more or less flat opening of the cash session on the Old Continent

SNB Chairman Jordan said that recent rate hikes were likely not enough to bring inflation down

Chinese travel activity has still not recovered after a pandemic. Data for recent Dragon Boat Festival holiday (June 22-24) showed travel was 22.8% below pre-pandemic 2019

Summary of Opinions from BoJ June meeting showed that CPI inflation is not expected to drop below target towards the end of the year. On top of that, one member saw it as appropriate to make changes to yield curve control mechanism

OPEC expects global oil demand to reach 110 million barrels per day by 2045

Saudi Aramco head said that China and India account for over 2 million barrels of oil demand growth

S&P Global lowered its Chinese GDP growth forecast for 2023 from 5.5 to 5.2%

Cryptocurrencies are trading lower - Bitcoin drops 0.6%, Ethereum trades 0.9% lower and Dogecoin slumps 1.6%

Energy commodities gain - oil trades 0.2% higher while US natural gas prices jump 2%

Precious metals advance - gold trades 0.4% higher, silver jumps 1.6% and platinum adds 1.4%

GBP and NZD are the best performing major currencies while USD and CHF lag the most

OIL.WTI opened higher following a short-lived Russian coup but all of the gains have been erased already.

USDJPY

Summary of Opinions from Bank of Japan's June meeting was released overnight and while the document is often overlooked by investors, this time it deserves some attention. The document noted that while the Bank expects CPI inflation to moderate towards the middle of the current fiscal year (Q4 2023), it does not expect it to slow below 2% target. Bank of Japan said that inflationary pressures in the economy increased as employment and income situations improved and tourism demand recovered. Moreover, it was noted that one BoJ member called for an early revision of the yield curve control programme. While it is still a minority, it hints that a change in attitude may be taking place and it may be more evident at BoJ's next meeting (27-28 July, 2023).

Japanese yen gained on those news and is the best performing G10 currency now. Taking a look at USDJPY chart at D1 interval, we can see that a recent rally on the pair slowed after reaching the upper limit of the upward channel. Recent gains on the pair have been quite quick and steep therefore one cannot rule out some profit taking. However, should pullback deepen and the pair break back below 142.00 price zone, it may hint that a larger correction is underway. In such a scenario, 138.25 support zone will be on watch. On the other hand, should it turn out to be just a brief pause in the upward move and bulls regain control, a 144.00 swing level should be seen as the first potential resistance.

USDCHF

USDCHF pair returns to test the key resistance 0.8959 (fibo 0.236) after the decline that it witnessed yesterday, noticing that AO loses its positive momentum clearly, waiting to motivate the price to resume the expected bearish trend for the upcoming period, which targets 0.8909 followed by 0.8820 levels mainly.

The EMA50 supports the suggested bearish wave, which will remain valid conditioned by the price stability below 0.8965 – 0.8980 levels.

EURUSD

During her inaugural speech at the ongoing central banking conference in Sintra, Portugal, President Lagarde announced that the ECB will raise interest rates at its next meeting in July. The banker indicated that inflationary pressures in the services sector would be a key theme for further rate hikes (a drop in sentiment in this sector/services inflationary pressures could encourage the ECB to ease monetary decisions).

Inflation in EMU remains high all the time, and the second inflationary wave is only now starting to materialize. The banker also sees a growing impact of higher wages on inflation.

The EURUSD pair has rallied during today's session and is approaching the resistance levels marked last week.

EURUSD

The EURUSD rate reached the zone where very strong supply has been triggered in recent months. We can also see that each time as we approached 1.10 the bears eventually took control. The key support on the Eurodollar is at 1.073 where we see the SMA200 on the D1 interval and the 23.6 Fibonacci retracement of the upward wave from the autumn, last year. A drop below the SMA100 (black line) at 1.084 could indicate an imminent test of these levels. Another key level set by the Fibo and price reactions is 1.05 where we see the 38.2 abolition. If sellers take control, we may see an RGR-like formation on the chart - a downward scenario, could reverse the medium-term trend.

EURUSD Faces Solid Support

The EURUSD currency pair has recently experienced a clear upward bounce after it attacked the neckline of the double top pattern. This has resulted in the pair now testing the EMA50 level.

As a result, our overall outlook for the EURUSD pair remains bearish. Our targets for the pair begin with breaking through the 1.0860 – 1.0840 levels, which would open the way for further declines towards the 1.0795 and 1.0730 levels, which are considered to be key negative stations. However, it is important to keep in mind that if the pair breaches the 1.0940 level, this could halt the expected decline and instead lead to a rise in price.

Oil

> Saudi Arabia and Russia's supply cut announcement fails to offset concerns over manufacturing activity slowdown worldwide
> Deceleration in China, Eurozone, and the US manufacturing PMI data contribute to the downward pressure on WTI prices

Despite the supply cut efforts by Saudi Arabia and Russia, WTI crude oil prices continue to face downward pressure due to concerns about a global economic slowdown. The slowdown in manufacturing activity worldwide, as evident from PMI data, has overshadowed the impact of the supply cuts. China's manufacturing PMI indicates a modest expansion but a continued deceleration, while the Eurozone and Germany are experiencing deceleration and a technical recession. The US manufacturing PMI suggests a slowing economy, which could have implications for the rate hike decisions of the US Federal Reserve. Additionally, Russia's plan to reduce exports to boost oil prices is overshadowed by China's slow reopening.

Amidst the deteriorating global manufacturing sector, the bearish sentiment for crude oil persists. Despite OPEC+ cuts and monetary stimulus from China, oil prices remain range-bound. The resistance at $73 has led to repeated rejections, maintaining a bearish bias. There is a possibility of testing the support level at $67.44 or further at $64, and a break below this level could trigger a significant downward movement towards the $57 level. Currently, the price is likely to test the $67.44 support, where buyers might enter the market. Otherwise, if buyers step in, the price may find support and potentially rally towards the $73 resistance zone.