The USD index remains below the 104.00 figure, struggling for direction at the start of a new trading week
EURUSD
Ahead of the weekend, the US dollar briefly peaked around 104.30 before attracting solid selling interest to finish in the 103.85 area on Friday. Today, the USD index remains below the 104.00 figure, struggling for direction at the start of a new trading week. The greenback looks unchanged in early European deals, with the 104.00 immediate resistance staying in the market focus at this stage. In recent trading, the buck was changing hands around 103.87, up just 0.01% on the day. The 103.80 zone now represents the immediate support while a daily close above 104.00 would bring some short-term bullishness back into the game. Meanwhile, EURUSD is holding above 1.0800 today after a brief jump to the 1.0860 zone earlier in the day. A decisive break above this hurdle would add to bullish impetus. In early European trading, the euro has settled around 1.0841, adding 0.05% on the day. On the weekly charts, the technical picture looks relatively constructive while above 1.0800.
GBPUSD
The pound keeps trending north after Friday’s bounce from more than one-week lows registered around the 1.2600 figure that capped the bearish momentum and triggered a strong bounce ahead of the weekend. In the process, the pair exceeded the 1.2650 intermediate barrier as dollar demand has waned somehow. As such, GBPUSD climbed to the 1.2680 zone, a decisive break above which would pave the way towards last week’s highs in the 1.2700 region. Earlier in the day, the pair encountered resistance the mentioned resistance before retreating marginally. In a wider picture, the cable stays bullish while above the 1.2600 figure. The daily RSI is now upbeat in neutral territory, suggesting potential buyers could stay in the game in the immediate term. In recent trading, GBPUSD was changing hands around 1.2666, up 0.13% on the day. On the flip side, the immediate significant support is now represented by the 1.2650 zone, followed by 1.2600. Should dollar demand reemerge any time soon, the pair may retest the 1.2600 figure.
USDJPY
After a modest bounce ahead of the weekend, USDJPY retains bullish bias on Monday, still holding within a tight trading range after the recent surge to fresh multi-month highs. Last month, the dollar extended gains to 150.90 for the first time since November before retreating partially amid some profit-taking. In recent trading, the pair extended gains to the 150.45region that remains in the market focus. On the positive side, the prices stay well above both the 100- and 20-DMAs that converged last month. In recent trading, the pair has settled slightly below the mentioned intraday highs. On the upside, the dollar is now facing the 150.70 immediate barrier. The dollar was last seen changing hands around 150.34, up 0.17% on the day. Now, the greenback needs to settle above the 150.50 region on a daily closing basis in order to confirm the latest breakout and refrain from a local correction. The daily RSI is now positive, suggesting the pair could refrain from another bearish attempt in the near term.
XAUUSD
Gold prices rallied aggressively on the first day of March to attract renewed demand amid dollar’s retreat. The bullion saw a strong spike towards late-December highs seen just below the $2,100 figure before retreating marginally. After the latest rally, gold prices turned bullish, with downside potential waning at this stage, as the bearish pressure has abated significantly over the last days. After a jump to the mentioned highs, the pair looks strong and steady. Following peaking around $2,097, the bullion has settled slightly below the upper end of the extended trading range. The XAUUSD pair was changing hands around $2,092 at the time of writing, trading unchanged for the day. On the weekly timeframes, the technical picture turned positive, with wider picture staying relatively upbeat after reaching fresh all-time highs in December. On the upside, the immediate significant target is now represented by the $2,100 zone. Downside risks are limited while above the $2,060 zone.