Market Update by Solidecn.com

[Solid ECN]

USDCAD

USDCAD finally managed to break below the key short-term support at 1.3655. According to the Overbalance methodology, this may point to a change of the main sentiment to bearish. The level of 1.3655 should be treated as the first line of resistance. In turn, nearest support to watch can be found around 1.3535 and 1.3475 levels.

[Solid ECN]

FRA40 pulls back as investors continue to follow the banking turmoil

FRA40 and other major European indices gave back most of early gains in the afternoon amid renewed concerns over the European banking sector. French prosecutors raided five banks including Societe Generale, BNP Paribas and HSBC as part of an investigation into suspected cases of tax fraud and money laundering related to dividend payments. Meanwhile, protests against the pension reform continue and strikes entered a 10th day on Tuesday, with public transport disrupted and deliveries halted. From a technical point of view, the French index pulled back as buyers failed to break above 50 SMA (green line) around 7180 pts. If sellers manage to uphold control, downward move may deepen towards upward trendline or even crucial support zone in the region 6550 pts - 6650 pts, which is marked with lower limit of the 1:1 structure, 200 SMA (red line) and 23.6% Fibonacci retracement of the upward wave launched in March 2020.

[Solid ECN]

USD unimpressed by Consumer Confidence data

US Consumer Confidence Index rose to 104.2 from 102.9 in March (revised to 103.4). Today’s reading came in above analysts’ estimates of 101.

• Present situation index 151.1 vs 153 prior
• Expectations index 73.0 vs 69.7 prior
• 1 year inflation 6.3% vs 6.3% prior
• Jobs hard-to-get 10.3 vs 10.5 prior
• 14.9% expect their incomes to increase, up from 14.4% last month

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Conference Board Confidence index moved higher in March, however inflation expectations still remain high, which is not what FED would like to see.

Simultaneously, Richmond manufacturing index for March was released. The index unexpectedly fell less than expected to -5 from-16 in February, while analysts’ expected -10.0 pointing to a modest improvement in business conditions. Of its three component indexes, shipments saw the largest change (up to 2 in March from -15 in February) and both the employment (-5 vs -7) and new orders (-11 vs -24) indexes improved but remained in negative territory. Firms continued to report easing of supply chain constraints as the indexes for backlogs and lead times remained negative. The average growth rate of prices paid decreased moderately, while the average growth rate of prices received changed little in March. Firms remained pessimistic about local business conditions and the index for future local business conditions edged down slightly.



EURUSD saw relatively small reaction to today’s data releases. The most popular currency pair continued to trade around 1.0820 level.

[Solid ECN]

GBPUSD

Andrew Bailey, governor of the Bank of England, as well as two other BoE members (Sam Woods and Dave Ramsden) appeared before the Treasury Select Committee today for a hearing on Silicon Valley Bank collapse. Bailey noted that collapse of SVB was the fastest banking failure since Barings Bank failure, which collapsed in 1995 following massive 827 million GBP loss incurred by trader Nick Leeson. However, those two cases cannot be compared as Barings failed due to rogue trader actions while SVB collapsed due to bank run and poor interest rate risk management. Speaking on Credit Suisse, Bailey said that problems of Swiss bank were company-specific and should not be seen as a risk for domestic banks. Overall, Bailey said that does not think that any of the features of recent banking failings (SVB and CS) are causing stress in the UK financial system. He said, however, that we are in a period of heightened tensions in the markets and higher levels of alertness are needed.



Bailey's comments today were in-line with his remarks yesterday, when he noted that UK rate setters are unlikely to be distracted from fighting inflation by troubles of the global banking system. GBP saw some weakness following Bailey's comments today but the move immediately after remarks was barely noticeable. Taking a look at GBPUSD chart at D1 interval, we can see that the pair has reached the resistance zone marked with 50% retracement of the downward move launched in June 2021. Pair attempted to break above it last week but failed and today's attempt also looks to be under question. GBPUSD erased gains from earlier today, painting a long upper wick on D1 interval. However, should we see a break above this zone, the 1.2440 area, marked with local highs from previous months, could be the next target for buyers. On the other hand, failure to break above could see the price pull back towards the support zone marked with 38.2% retracement and 200-session moving average (purple line).

[Solid ECN]

BTC Retests 9-Month Highs

Cryptocurrencies are gaining along with the major indices on Wall Street. Concerns about the banking crisis have eased somewhat, with investors finally taking a positive view of Fed Chairman Powell's comments yesterday. The rally continues despite news of an investigation into Justin Sun, the creator of the Tron blockchain, and subsequent fines targeting celebrities who promoted his cryptocurrency. The largest crypto exchange in the US, Coinbase (COIN.US), has received a so-called Wells notice evidencing possible enforcement and irregularities identified by the SEC regarding the assets and services offered on the platform.

• The SEC maintains that all cryptocurrencies except Bitcoin are securities, while the Coinbase exchange has announced a confrontation with the regulator in court. At the time of Binance US's acquisition of the assets of bankrupt Voyager, a judge dismissed the SEC's request to halt the transaction;
• He pointed to the unclear regulation of the industry and the incompatibility of the SEC and CFTC regulators towards what cryptocurrencies de facto are. The industry read the position as a possible preliminary precedent for wins against the SEC in other court cases. However, the bullish sentiment faded somewhat after a broader announcement from the US Securities Exchange Commission, which warned against the crypto market;
• SEC maintains that entities that offer cryptocurrency trading may not be operating in accordance with US law. Despite these comments, shares of the Coinbase (COIN.US) exchange managed to erase some of the losses, although still losing nearly 11%. A general increase in risk appetite is supporting the quotations of the largest cryptocurrency.

Bitcoin, M30 interval. The price of the main cryptocurrency rebounded from the 23.6 Fibonacci retracement of the upward wave started on 10 March and the SMA100 and SMA200 averages. It has thus resumed the bullish momentum and is testing the previous resistance near 28,500 USD. Overcoming 28,800 USD could open the way for the bulls to rally towards 30,000 USD.

[Solid ECN]

US30

The dynamic declines on Wall Street initiated during the latter part of today's session were abruptly reversed by US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, who stated that she would provide additional deposit support if needed. Yellen added that anti-contagion tools may be applied again. Strong actions are to be taken to ensure deposits are safe. Stock indices rebounded dynamically after the new statement.

[Solid ECN]

Oil

Publication of report from the US Department of Energy caused some moves on the oil market. Crude inventories jumped unexpectedly while gasoline and distillate stockpiles dropped more than expected.

• Oil inventories: +1.117mb vs -1.565 mb expected (API: +3.262 mb)
• Gasoline inventories: -6.4 mb vs -1.677 mb (API: -1.09 mb)
• Distillate inventories: -3.313 mb vs -1.5 mb (API: -1.84 mb)
• Oil inventories at Cushing, Oklahoma: - 1.063 million barrels vs -1.558 million barrels previously

WTI Crude Oil (OIL.WTI) price bounced off local upward trendline and is testing resistance at $70.15.

[Solid ECN]

EURUSD

The most popular currency moved higher on Wednesday morning following a set of hawkish comments from ECB President Lagarde. In her opinion policymakers are neither committed to raise further nor are yet finished with hiking rates. ECB does not see clear evidence that underlying inflation is trending downwards. The underlying inflation dynamics remain strong. Lagarde emphasized that the ECB is ready to act and provide liquidity support.



EURUSD jumped above major resistance at 1.0765 following Lagarde comments, which paves the way towards net key resistance at 1.0900. This level coincides with 50.0% Fibonacci retracement of the downward wave started in June 2021.

[Solid ECN]

JAP225

• US indices finished yesterday's session higher amid expectations that the Fed will tighten policy less aggressively in the evening. S&P 500 added 1.30%, Dow Jones moved 0.98% higher and Nasdaq rose 1.58%. Russell outperformed and managed to finish 1.88% higher
• Indices from Asia-Pacific traded higher today - Nikkei jumped 1.94%, S&P/ASX 200 moved 0.87% higher while Kospi and Nifty 50 rose 1.12% and 0.20% respectively
• Indices from China traded 0.2-0.45% higher
• DAX futures point to a lower opening of today's European cash session
• ECB's Nagel said that policymakers have to be "even more stubborn" in inflation fight. In his opinion Eurozone banking system is resilient, not facing repeat of 2008
• First Republic Bank could potentially receive government backing, according to Bloomberg
• API report pointed to a 3.262 million barrel build in US oil inventories (exp. -1.448 mb)
• RBC analysts believe that OPEC would intervene if oil prices dropped substantially.
• Russia's Deputy Prime Minister Novak said that the country's current curtailed level of crude oil output would be in place through June 2023.
• Commerzbank lowered its 2023 midyear Brent crude oil forecast to US$80 a barrel (from $95)
• Cryptocurrencies are trading slightly higher today - Bitcoin gains 0.5%, Ethereum adds 0.4%
• Energy commodities are lower - oil drops 1.0% while US natural gas prices fell over 2.6%
• Precious metals little changed - silver rose 0.16%, gold trades 0.8% higher
• AUD and NZD are the best performing major currencies while USD and CHF lag the most

Nikkei (JAP225) was one of the best performing Asian indices today. Index returned to crucial resistance at 27200 pts, which is marked with previous price reactions and 23.6% Fibonacci retracement of the upward wave launched in March 2020.

[Solid ECN]

GBPUSD

Inflation Rate in the United Kingdom increased to 10.40% YoYin February from 10.10% in January, above market estimates of 9.9% YoY.

The largest upward contributions came from restaurants and cafes, food, and clothing, partially offset by downward contributions from recreational and cultural goods and services (particularly recording media), and motor fuels. Core CPI rose 6.20% in February over the same month in the previous year, well above analysts' estimates of 5.7%. Fresh data may suggest that the BoE may not necessarily be approaching the end of the tightening cycle. Tomorrow a 25 bp rate hike is expected.


GBPUSD is trading higher today and fresh CPI data provided more fuel for bulls. The currency pair is moving further away from support zone in the 1.2215 area.