USD bulls make a pause after rally
EURUSD
The dollar is steady on Friday, trading back in positive territory after yesterday’s brief dip below 108.00. The USD index is challenging the 108.50 intermediate zone and could target 109.00 if Powell expresses a hawkish tone during the upcoming speech. EURUSD failed to break parity on Thursday to come under renewed pressure earlier in the day, still looking fragile and vulnerable to even deeper losses in the short term. In recent deals. However, the shared currency bounced from intraday lows to turn positive on the day. On the four-hour charts, the RSI is tending slightly higher in neutral territory while the prices still hold well below the key SMAs, painting a mixed 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 regained the upside bias on Thursday to finish above the 1.1800 figure. However, the pound resumed the descent today and was last seen changing hands around 1.1803, down 0.20% on the day. As such, the bullish potential looks limited at this stage, especially as the pair stays well below the descending 20-DMA, today at 1.2024. Of note, the cable came off intraday highs after a brief spike towards the 1.1840 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 slightly higher while the prices are flirting with 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 below 137.00 on Thursday, resuming the retreat from one-month highs seen around 137.70 earlier in the week. Today, however, the pair is back in positive territory to settle just below 137.00 during the European trading hours. As such, the dollar continues to cling to the upper end of the extended trading range, holding well above the 20-DMA, today at 134.80. 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 136.40, followed by 135.60 and the 135.80 figure. As of writing, the greenback was changing hands around 136.88, up 0.29% on the day.
XAUUSD
Gold prices have steadied on Friday after three days of gains. The bullion peaked at $1,765 on Thursday before retreating marginally. Still, the prices hold above the $1,750 zone that represents the immediate support at this stage. A failure to hold above this level would bring the recent lows below $1,730 back into the market focus. On the upside, the directionless 20-DMA represents the key short-term target for gold. A decisive break above this moving average, today at $1,770, would pave the way towards the $1,800 barrier last seen in mid-August. In a wider picture, the downtrend from all-time peaks seen above $2,000 in March is likely to continue in the coming weeks or month as the precious metal has largely lost out to the dollar as a safe haven this year.