USDJPY plunged abruptly below a slightly descending 20-DMA in the aftermath of the Bank of Japan meeting
EURUSD
The dollar index keeps bleeding after a brief dip towards fresh June lows around 103.45 last week. The greenback has settled around 104.30 on Tuesday, staying in the negative territory both on the daily and weekly charts. The nearest support for the DXY arrives around 104.00, followed by the 103.70 zone and the 103.45 mentioned low. Still, the euro struggles to extend the ascent these days. EURUSD briefly rallied to early-June highs around 1.0735 before retreating towards 1.0600 on Tuesday. The shared currency struggles for direction as momentum looks fairly modest at this stage. If the buck continues to lose ground in the days to come, the euro may regain the 1.0700 mark and thus settle above the descending 55-week SMA. In the immediate term, the pair needs to get back above 1.0600 in order to resume the local rally from multi-year lows registered around 0.9535 in September.
GBPUSD
The pound peaked around 1.2446 last week and has been retreating since then as traders opted to take some profit after a spectacular rally. The cable slipped below 1.2200 to settle between the 20- and the 200-DMAs. The pair is unlikely to see a more aggressive decline at this stage as the dollar lacks demand across the board. Now, the pound needs to regain the 1.2200 level in order to retain a bullish tone and extend the ascent. On the negative side, the daily RSI turned slightly lower in neutral territory, suggesting the cable could at least refrain from bullish extension in the near term. GBPUSD was last seen changing hands around 1.2135, down 0.08% on the day. On the four-hour timeframes, the technical picture looks mixed as the RSI points north in neutral territory while the prices have settled below the 20- and 100-SMAs that converge just below the 1.2200 handle.
USDJPY
The USDJPY pair plunged abruptly below a slightly descending 20-DMA in the aftermath of the Bank of Japan meeting. The central bank held its benchmark interest rates steady and announced it will modify its yield curve control band from its current plus and minus 0.25% to plus and minus 0.5%. Against this backdrop, the pair dipped from the 137.50 down to a four-month low of 132.66. Following the initial sell-off, the dollar bounced marginally while still staying under intense selling pressure. In the immediate term, the greenback needs to regain the 134.50 zone in order to avoid another major retreat. Otherwise, the pair is likely to suffer fresh losses, with the 132.00 support zone coming into the market focus at this stage. The USD was last seen trading around 133.50, down 2.46% on the day.
XAUUSD
During the latest rally that took place last week, gold exceeded the $1,800 psychological level to extend gains towards late-June highs around $1,825. After peaking, the bullion retreated amid profit-taking to settle around $1,790 on Tuesday. Despite some retreat, the bullion retains a bullish tone, also holding above both the 200- and the 20-DMAs. The precious metal struggles for direction this week while also staying above the $1,780 mark that remains in focus for the time being. The bullion was last seen changing hands around $1,793, up 0,2% on the day. The XAUUSD pair is likely to stay above the mentioned 20-DMA in the near term, but in a wider picture, bearish risks persist despite the recent rally. On the downside, the nearest significant support now arrives at $1,780, followed by the $1,750 zone.
