Euro struggles to regain parity despite dollar weakness
EURUSD
The US dollar keeps retreating from recent peaks seen around 109.30. The USD index is holding slightly above the 108.00 mark, shedding nearly 0.4% on Thursday as the positive shift in risk sentiment weighs on the safe-haven dollar. Later in the day, the greenback could be affected by the second estimate of the second quarter US GDP and the weekly initial jobless claims data. As the dollar fell, EURUSD advanced beyond parity to settle around 1.0020 earlier in the day. However, the shared currency lacked the momentum to extend the bounce and fell back below 1.00 in recent trading. On the four-hour charts, the RSI rebounded from oversold territory while the prices stay well below the key SMAs, painting a still bearish short-term technical picture. Now, the euro needs to regain the 1.00 mark on a daily basis to shrug off some of the selling pressure at this stage.
GBPUSD
GBPUSD failed to extend the rebound on Wednesday and finished just below the 1.1800 figure. The pound resumed its recovery today and was last seen changing hands around 1.1837, up 0.35% on the day. Still, the bullish potential looks limited at this stage, especially as the pair stays well below the descending 20-DMA, today at 1.2043. Of note, the cable came off intraday highs after a brief spike towards the 1.1865 zone, which implies that traders could be selling the GBP on short-term rallies. On the four-hour charts, the bearish momentum has eased as the RSI has recovered from oversold territory and keeps pointing north while the prices have settled above the 20-SMA. On the longer-term timeframes, the technical picture stays bearish, with the prices holding below the key weekly SMAs while the RSI keeps pointing lower.
USDJPY
USDJPY finished above 137.00 on Wednesday to see a short-lived rebound after a retreat from one-month highs seen around 137.70 earlier in the week. Today, however, the pair came under renewed selling pressure to settle around 136.50 during the European trading hours. Still, the dollar continues to cling to the upper end of the extended trading range, holding well above the 20-DMA, today at 134.60. Earlier in the month, the prices managed to hold above the 100-SMA, adding to a resilient technical picture. In the near term, USDJPY needs to regain the 137.00 mark for the bullish momentum to persist. A decisive break above the mentioned one-month highs would bring long-term tops above 139.00 back into the market focus. In case of a deeper downside correction, the nearest support should be expected around 136.00, followed by 135.80 and the 135.60 figure. As of writing, the greenback was changing hands around 136.55, down 0.43% on the day.
BTCUSD
Bitcoin looks relatively steady these days, holding above $21,000 on Thursday. Yesterday, the BTCUSD pair was rejected from the $21,800 zone that now represents the immediate upside target for the coin. The technical picture now looks like a consolidation phase before another possible sell-off, with downside risks persisting despite the recent bounce. If bitcoin fails to clear the $22,500 zone in the near term, the downside momentum could reemerge. However, it may be too early to bet on another decline, especially as stock markets started to shrug off the recent selling pressure. Wall Street indices rebounded overnight, snapping a three-day decline. BTC could come under renewed downside pressure ahead of the weekend, with the $20,000 handle staying in the market focus. A failure to hold above this level would open the way towards the $17,600 zone that helped cap the plunge in June.
