Morning brief for May 2
A belated happy Labour day, dear traders! We bet you were trading with zeal and special ardor yesterday! Here are the latest news and market moves of today’s Asian session.
AUD/USD spiked to 0.7540 after the Reserve Bank of Australia left its cash rate unchanged at 1.5%. No sign of cut nor a hike has been registered. The statement was neutral maybe with a slight hawkish bias. There is a room for further extension towards firm resistance at 0.7600.
USD/JPY has spent the Asian session in a very narrow range; it edged up to 111.88 but has still not pierced 112. It seems that upward momentum is not as strong as preferred. To strengthen it quotes should hit 112.20. A clear break of the following level will improve the odds for further extension towards 112.90. The concerns about North Korea nuclear testing have lessened. Donald Trump opened the door to meeting North Korea’s young leader Kim Jong Un.
EUR/USD posted a modest gain in the Asian session having risen above 1.0920. The quotes are moving mostly sideways, as bulls lost their momentum. So, the odds for breaking 1.1000 have seriously diminished. Most likely EUR/USD will continue its rangebound movement in the upcoming sessions. A stop loss can be placed at 1.0820 (last Monday low). Emmanuel Macron is still seen as the front-runner over Marin le Pen in the second round of the French presidential race (scheduled for May 7). Today’s focus will be on the EZ countries’ Manufacturing PMI.
USD/CAD slipped a few points in the Asian session. At the present moment, the pair is hovering near 1.3665. Loonie might continue strengthening against USD especially after FOMC meetings (the members will likely vote for staying on hold at the tomorrow’s meeting).
Brent oil futures held weaker on Tuesday following the weak survey on manufacturing in China and revival of the Libya’s crude oil industry. Today, investors will be waiting for the American Petroleum Institute’s report on the US crude and refined product stockpiles. A drop in inventories will be supportive for the oil prices.
GBP/USD rose above 1.2900 in the course of the Asian session. The odds for further extension at least towards 1.3000 are quite high. A slowing domestic economy and upcoming UK election temper prospects of sustained upside though. A disappointing headline of today’s manufacturing PMI out of the UK might send the pound lower towards 1.2750, 1.2610 levels.
Kiwi lost its ground in the morning trading session. NZD/USD slid to 0.6910. A move below 0.6850/55 will be a signal of bears’ strength. A break of the resistance at 0.6965 will be a good sign for us to adopt a bullish stance.