The euro stays below parity as the Fed meeting looms
EURUSD
The US dollar turned sideways while also retaining a modest bullish bias on Monday. The USD index has settled just below the 110.00 mark after finding support around 109.55 last week. The broader uptrend remains intact, and the buying pressure could reemerge as risk demand remains fragile at this stage. On the upside, the immediate resistance now arrives around 110.00, followed by the 110.50 zone and the 112.00 mark. As such, the euro remains below parity, trading under some pressure, with traders getting more cautious ahead of the Federal Reserve’s two-day meeting that kicks off on Tuesday. EURUSD rallied above the 20-DMA and parity to climb to mid-September highs just below 1.0100 before retreating back below 1.00. The shared currency was last seen changing hands around 0.9953, nearly unchanged on the day.
GBPUSD
The pound jumped above 1.1600 last week and has been clinging this mark since then. However, the pair still lacks the upside momentum as some dollar demand persists despite positive risk sentiment in the global financial markets. The cable struggles for direction on Monday to settle around 1.1600 amid the persisting political uncertainty in the UK. On the positive side, the cable holds well above the 20-DMA, today at 1.1311. The pair was last seen changing hands around 1.1604, up less than 0.1% on the day. Now, GBPUSD needs to regain the 1.1600 zone on a daily closing basis in order to stay afloat in the immediate term. Earlier in October, the rally for the pair was capped by the 1.1500 figure, pushing the prices back below 1.1000. Now, the 100-DMA, today at 1.1730, comes into the market focus. However, the cable could lack the momentum to challenge this moving average in the near term.
USDJPY
The USDJPY regained the upside bias late last week to regain the ascending 20-DMA ahead of the weekend. Earlier on Monday, the pair briefly advanced towards 148.30 before retreating back to the flat-line as the overall demand for the US dollar stays muted. The pair is now back below 148.00, struggling for direction in early European deals. In the immediate term, the greenback needs to hold above the 20-DMA. Otherwise, the pair is likely to suffer fresh losses, with the 145.00 support zone in the market focus at this stage. On the upside, the immediate resistance now arrives at 148.00, followed by the 148.40 zone. On the four-hour timeframes, the RSI points south, while the prices hold slightly above the key moving averages, suggesting the overall technical picture could stay mixed in the immediate term.
BTCUSD
The price of bitcoin was mixed over the weekend after another failure to overcome the $21,000 barrier. The BTCUSD pair briefly rallied to $21,011 before finishing the week around $20,600. The coin failed to regain a bullish bias on Monday, albeit refraining from a deeper retreat at this stage. In part, this is due to the overall upbeat investor sentiment in the traditional financial markets. Now, bitcoin needs to hold above $20,000 in order to avoid a more aggressive selling pressure. In this scenario, traders may retarget the $21,000 resistance zone after some hesitation. The BTCUSD pair was last seen changing hands around $20,500, down 0.65% on the day. The immediate support area is now around $20,400, followed $20,200.
