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Dollar a little on the backfoot to start the session

EUR/USD trades back above the 1.2100 level

EUR/USD H1 14-05

The greenback is slightly on the backfoot as we get things going in European morning trade, as major currencies look to stretch the ranges for the day.
Of note, EUR/USD is moving back up above 1.2100 to 1.2110 now though there is still some near-term resistance from the 100-hour moving average @ 1.2118.
As price action rests in between the key hourly moving averages, the near-term bias holds more neutral for the time being.
Likewise, cable is seeing a similar price action play as the spot price holds in between the key hourly moving averages @ 1.4003 and 1.4094.
Commodity currencies are also posting a slight advance against the greenback but nothing too overwhelming so far to start the session.
The risk mood is keeping rather firm with European indices opening with solid gains, as US futures are also marked higher. S&P 500 futures are up 0.6%.

Thursday US news – Cryptocurrency exchange Binance is under investigation

At this stage its an investigation only, the exchange has not been accused of wrongdoing:
  • money laundering
  • tax offences
An Achilles heel for the acceptance of crypto generally is its role in facilitating criminal activity payments. Indeed, it appears Colonial Pipeline paid hackers circa $5m in crypto re the network failure this week. Crypto defenders point out that plenty of fiat currency is used in criminal activities also. Which is true.
BTC update:
Adam had the news posted overnight that Binance is facing investigations from the Justice Department and the IRS.

European Central Bank jawboning if EUR/USD heads above 1.2200

That’s the expectation from Westpac.

  • EUR/USD looks set to breach its recent range (1.17-1.22) resistance
  • ECB officials are likely to voice concern in order to dampen moves above 1.22
Further from WPAC:
  • EU quarterly economic forecasts … lifts in growth for both 2021 and 2022 from their Winter profile (4.2% from 3.7% and 4.4% from 3.7% respectively).
  • The uplift is due to the now successful regional covid vaccine rollout and expectations for easing of the majority of COVID-19restrictions during H2 2021.
  • ECB officials have also stressed the flexibility of PEPP purchases, the pace of which was increased into the current quarter and now looks set to slow into mid-year as full ratification of the Recovery Fund appears imminent, given the EC summits
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Meanwhile, EUR/USD is not doing much at all during the timezone here, awaiting the US retails sales data Friday it would seem.

US Major indices snap three days losing streak

NASDAQ still 7% below the all-time high

The major indices snapped there three days losing streak.  However,

  • The Dow, S&P are on track for the worst week since late January.
  • The NASDAQ is on track for its worst week since February 26
  • The NASDAQ is still 7% below its all-time high

On a positive note Dow has the best day since March 26

The final numbers are showing:
  • S&P index rose 49.45 points or 1.22% at 4112.49. The high reached 4132. The low price extended 24079.80. At the high the index was up 1.7%
  • NASDAQ index rose 93.31 points or 0.72% at 13124.99. The high reached 13247.87. The low extended to 13007.24. At the high the index was up 1.66%. The index did turn negative and traded down -0.19% at it’s lows
  • Dow industrial average closed up 433.79 points or 1.29% at 34021.45. It’s high reached 34181.77. The low reached 33623.49. At the low, the Dow industrial average was up 0.11%. At the high the index reached 1.77%.
After the close Disney is reporting higher earnings but missing on the revenues and Disney+ subscribers. As a result the price has moved sharply lower and trades down around 4% in after-hours trading.
AirBNB is also trading lower by around 5% in after-hours trading as markets react negatively to their earnings report.