USDJPY looks set to retest the 135.00 handle after a pause as the buck looks bid across the board
EURUSD
The US dollar has been rallying for the fifth session in a row on Monday, aided by hotter-than-expected inflation data out of the United States. Now, the market focus shifts to the FOMC meeting due this week that could add to the dollar’s bullishness as the central bank is widely expected to hike the interest rate by 50 bps to fight inflation. The USD index regained the 104.00 figure last week, extending gains to 104.75 earlier today before retreating marginally in recent trading. The buck looks set to continue the ascent in the near term, especially as the Fed meting looms. EURUSD failed to hold above the 1.0500 figure and thus plunged to nearly one-month lows around 1.0455. Now, the market focus shifts towards the 1.0430 intermediate support, followed by the 1.0400 mark last seen in mid-May.
GBPUSD
Thecable has been losing ground for the fourth consecutive session on Monday as the US dollar keeps finding bids across the market. After some consolidation above the 20-DMA, the pair came back under pressure, approaching May 2020 lows seen around 1.2155 last month. The selling pressure intensified on Friday as the prices failed to hold above the mentioned moving average, today at 1.2510. As a result, the pound extended losses to one-month lows around 1.2230 and was clinging to the lower end of the extended trading range in early European deals. GBPUSD looks set to keep bleeding at least in the near term, targeting fresh long-term lows below 1.2100, with the 1.2000 psychological level coming into the market focus for the first time since March 2020 when global markets were hit by the onset of the pandemic.
USDJPY
USDJPY advanced to fresh multi-year highs at the start of the week as the greenback remains bid across the market while the Japanese yen struggles to capitalize on persistent safe-haven flows due to monetary policy divergence between the Fed and the Bank of Japan. The pair briefly exceeded the 135.00 figure before giving up early intraday gains as traders opted to take some profit at fresh twenty-year tops. The dollar was last seen changing hands around 134.40, up just 0.1% on the day. Despite the retreat, USDJPY looks set to retest the 135.00 handle after a pause. On the four-hour charts, the pair remains supported by the ascending 20-SMA, albeit the upside momentum has waned somehow. The immediate support now arrives at 134.00, followed by the 133.20 zone.
BTCUSD
Bitcoin plunged along with other cryptocurrencies over the weekend to shed nearly 14% last week. On Monday, the BTCUSD pair keeps bleeding, losing more than 8% since the start of the day. The largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization came under aggressive selling pressure after failed attempts to regain the $30,000 mark. As a result, the coin fell to late-2020 lows around the $24,000 figure, clinging to the lower end of the extended trading range in early European trading hours. Now that bitcoin fell through significant intermediate support levels on the way towards the mentioned low, the $20,000 mark comes back into the market focus for the first time since December 2020. On the hourly timeframes, bearish risks persist as well, suggesting the digital currency could challenge the $24,000 zone after some hesitation. On the upside, the nearest significant target now arrives at $26,600, followed by the $28,000 mark.
