• Stocks in a better mood so far today
• UK March payrolls change 31k vs 98k prior
• Germany April ZEW survey current conditions -32.5 vs -40.0 expected
• BOJ’s Ueda: Positive signs are emerging in prices, wage growth
• JP Morgan, Citi upgrade China 2023 full-year GDP growth forecast

Markets:

• NZD leads, USD lags on the day
• European equities higher; S&P 500 futures up 0.4%
• US 10-year yields down 2.3 bps to 3.567%
• Gold up 0.5% to $2,004.21
• WTI crude down 0.2% to $80.70
• Bitcoin up 2.8% to $30,287

It was a relatively quiet session but markets were active, with the dollar slumping as it gets dragged back into the mud after the gains on Friday and Monday. This comes as equities are seen more upbeat, perhaps cheering on the more robust China Q1 GDP data earlier in the day.

The pound also caught a bit of a lift as UK wage pressures continue to run hot, beating on estimates. Put together the above factors and GBP/USD is running up by 0.5% to 1.2430 levels now, up from around 1.2385 earlier today.

As the dollar softened, EUR/USD is seen moving up from 1.0930 to 1.0980 while USD/JPY also dropped from 134.50 to 133.90 with Treasury yields also reversing to fall lower during the session.

The antipodeans are also enjoying life today with AUD/USD up 0.6% to 0.6740 and NZD/USD up 0.6% to 0.6220 at the moment, hanging at the highs for the day.

In other markets, gold is also quietly climbing back above the $2,000 mark as it capitalises on the dollar’s weakness while we are seeing Bitcoin also shoot higher in the last 15 minutes in a burst back above $30,000.

This article was written by Justin Low at www.forexlive.com.

After the drop back below the $30,000 mark in trading yesterday, Bitcoin is coming back up today and buyers are catching a second breath on a push above the key figure level at the moment. It’s a quick jump straight to $30,200 and the high last week of around $31,050 will be one in buyers‘ crosshairs.

The key resistance region to be mindful about though, sits closer to $32,000 and that is from highs seen last May. A firm break above that leaves little in between that and a push towards $40,000 in terms of price action.

This article was written by Justin Low at www.forexlive.com.

• EPS $8.79 (vs $8.21 estimate)
• Revenue $12.22 billion (vs $12.88 billion estimate)
• Investment banking revenue $1.58 billion (vs $1.54 billion estimate)
• Net interest income $1.78 billion (vs $2.18 billion estimate)

Looking at the initial reaction, Goldman Sachs‘ shares are down 2% in pre-market at the moment.

This article was written by Justin Low at www.forexlive.com.

On the daily chart below for
AUDUSD, we can see that the price action remains choppy as the uncertainty
prevails in the market. The US economic data keeps giving recessionary vibes
with the US
retail sales missing expectations across the board and giving
the USD a boost the last Friday.

This move higher in the US Dollar
though is fading today. It’s a push and pull between buyers and sellers and
none of them has a high conviction in what’s next. The resistance at 0.6781 coupled with the 38.2%
Fibonacci
retracement level is a tough nut to crack for the buyers as
the sellers keep defending the level strongly.

AUDUSD
technical analysis

On the 4 hour chart below, we can
see the current range between the support at 0.6620 and the resistance at
0.6793. At the moment the only strategy here is to “play the range” buying at
support and selling at resistance. The recent rejection at the resistance
should give the sellers enough conviction to target the support. There’s no top
tier US economic data until Thursday and Friday, so
the technicals and the sentiment will guide the price action.

On the 1 hour chart below, we can
see that today’s pullback switched the bearish momentum to a bullish one with
the moving
averages crossing to the upside. The little trendline should be the place where buyers
and sellers are likely to lean on. The buyers will want to see the price
bouncing from the trendline with the red long period moving average acting as
resistance. The sellers, on the other hand, will want to see the price to break
below the trendline to jump onboard and push the price towards the bottom of
the range.

This article was written by ForexLive at www.forexlive.com.

With little on the agenda, markets are seeing a more optimistic tone so far today and that is also weighing on the dollar. It might be a bit of a late acceptance to China’s strong Q1 GDP data earlier but stocks won’t be complaining. Here’s a snapshot of things at the moment:

• S&P 500 futures +0.4%
• Nasdaq futures +0.6%
• Dow futures +0.3%
• Eurostoxx +0.6%
• Germany DAX +0.5%
• France CAC 40 +0.5%
• UK FTSE 0.2%

In Europe, the optimism continues to flow and the DAX is in the hunt for its fourth weekly gain in five weeks, trading up to its highest levels so far this year. Eyes will be on the November 2021 high at 16,290 next.

This article was written by Justin Low at www.forexlive.com.