Equities hit the skids as higher yields is still the name of the game 0 (0)

It’s not a good look for equities now as US futures pare almost all of its earlier gains, despite even getting help from a gap higher at the open. European indices are also now all in the red, with the Eurostoxx down roughly 0.3% currently. It once again highlights the fact that the bond market is in charge of proceedings and traders are back to focusing on that after month-end and quarter-end last week.

10-year Treasury yields are up nearly 6 bps to 4.63% at the moment and threatening a further push higher amid the breakout since the middle of last month. That in turn is also underpinning the US dollar, as the greenback leads the charge across the board.

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

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Dollar stays poised so far in European trading 0 (0)

The dollar is sitting higher on the day now, only trailing behind the Swiss franc. The greenback continues to be in a firm spot as Treasury yields are holding at the highs, with 10-year yields now nearly 6 bps to 4.63% on the day. With month-end and quarter-end flows out of the way, the dollar is starting to look ripe again as things turn back into its favour.

EUR/USD is down 0.3% to 1.0540 and breaking back below its 100-hour moving average (red line), after having seen sellers defend a bounce at the 200-hour moving average (blue line) on Friday last week. This now sees sellers regain near-term control and will be poised to try and retest the 1.0500 mark again.

Elsewhere, USD/JPY is also keeping near the highs for the day at 149.70 despite Japan intervention fears while AUD/USD is down 0.6% to just under 0.6400 again as risk trades are also starting to hit the skids now on the session.

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

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Dow Jones Technical Analysis – Key levels in play 0 (0)

Last week, the market remained under pressure as
the more hawkish than expected FOMC dot plot was
still fresh in everyone’s mind. The economic data continues to support the
soft-landing narrative with Jobless Claims showing
a solid labour market and Core PCE trending
downwards. The last day of the week, we got a small bounce across the board as
the market took a breather after the heavy selloff after the FOMC meeting. We
will see if it was just a pullback or the start of a new rally.

Dow Jones Technical
Analysis – Daily Timeframe

On the daily chart, we can see that the Dow Jones
bounced around a key support at the
33622 level and pulled back into the blue 8 moving average before
falling back into the support. The sellers would have undoubtedly a better risk
to reward setup if the price rallied all the way back into the downward trendline where we
can also find the 61.8% Fibonacci retracement level.
For now, the sellers remain in control and the buyers will need to break some
key levels before turning the trend around.

Dow Jones Technical
Analysis – 4 hour Timeframe

On the 4 hour chart, we can see that we have a
strong resistance around the 34000 level where we have also the confluence with the
red 21 moving average and the 38.2% Fibonacci retracement level. If the price
rallies into that resistance again we can expect the sellers stepping in with a
defined risk above the resistance to target the 32597 level. The buyers, on the
other hand, will want to see the price breaking higher to position for a rally
into the trendline.

Dow Jones Technical
Analysis – 1 hour Timeframe

On the 1 hour chart, we can see that the
Dow Jones seems to be consolidating around the 33622 support and we can expect
the buyers to keep piling in around here with a defined risk below the low to
target the trendline. If the price breaks below the low, the sellers should
jump onboard and ride the selloff into the next support around the 32597 level.

Upcoming Events

This week we have many key economic releases that will
culminate in the NFP report on Friday. Today, we will see the latest ISM
Manufacturing PMI. Tomorrow, we will have the Job Openings data which led to a
strong rally the last time as the big miss was interpreted as a good thing due
to less labour market tightness and less hawkish Fed. On Wednesday, it will be
the time for the ADP report and the ISM Services PMI. On Thursday, we will see
the Jobless Claims data, which continues to show a solid labour market. Finally
on Friday, it will be the time for the NFP report which is the only one the Fed
will see before its next rate decision.

This article was written by FL Contributors at www.forexlive.com.

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Weekly Market Outlook (02-06 October) 0 (0)

UPCOMING EVENTS:

  • Monday: BoJ
    Summary of Opinions, Swiss Retail Sales, Eurozone Unemployment Rate, US
    ISM Manufacturing PMI.
  • Tuesday: RBA
    Policy Decision, Swiss CPI, US Job Openings.
  • Wednesday: RBNZ
    Policy Decision, Eurozone Retail Sales, Eurozone PPI, US ADP, US ISM
    Services PMI.
  • Thursday: US
    Challenger Job Cuts, US Jobless Claims.
  • Friday: Japan
    Wage data, Swiss Unemployment Rate, US NFP, Canada Jobs report.

Monday

The Eurozone Unemployment Rate is expected
to remain unchanged at 6.4%. The labour market remains tight and central
banks would like to see it softening to have more confidence on a timely and
sustainable achievement of their inflation targets.

The US ISM Manufacturing PMI is expected
to tick higher to 47.7 vs. 47.6 prior. As a reminder, the S&P
Global US Manufacturing PMI
beat expectations,
although it remains in contraction, and overall the comments point to stagnation
in activity.

Tuesday

The RBA is expected to keep the cash rate
unchanged at 4.10%. The RBA expected headline inflation to pick up in Q3 due to
higher energy prices and highlighted that the labour market could be at a
turning point. Indeed, the latest
labour market report
was lacklustre as the
bulk of jobs added were part time and the latest monthly
CPI
showed a pick up in headline inflation
with the Core measure decreasing.

The US Job Openings will be one of the
top releases this week as the big
miss in the previous month
caused some notable moves in the markets due to the focus on the labour market data. The consensus
sees Job Openings to remain basically unchanged for August at 8.83M vs. 8.827M
for July.

Wednesday

The RBNZ is expected to keep the Official
Cash Rate unchanged at 5.50%. The central bank is confident that with the
current level of interest rates inflation will return to target and it’s ready
to look through some strength in the data in the near term as communicated in
the latest
policy statement
.

The US ADP is a labour market report and
as such it has the potential to move the markets. The consensus sees 160K jobs
added in September compared to 177K prior.

The US ISM Services PMI is expected to
tick lower to 53.6 vs. 54.5 prior. The latest S&P
Global US Services PMI
missed expectations,
although the index remained in expansion. Again, the comments pointed to
contracting demand and waning activity.

Thursday

The US Jobless Claims data continues to be
one of the top releases each week as the focus has now turned more towards the
labour market. Last week, the data
beat expectations again
in a sign that
the labour market remains solid for now. There’s no consensus at the moment,
but keep an eye on it as it remains a key labour market report.

Friday

The Japanese wage data is going to be
important for the BoJ as the central bank continues
to repeat
that it wants to see a
solid growth in wages to be confident on a sustainable achievement of their
inflation target and the consequent exit from monetary easing.
Notably, the data has been trending lower in the past few months.

The US NFP is expected to show 163K jobs
added in September compared to 187K seen in August and the Unemployment Rate to
tick lower to 3.7% vs. 3.8% in the prior month. The Average Hourly Earnings
will also be a key metric to watch with the yearly growth seen at 4.3% vs. 4.3%
prior and the monthly one at 0.3% vs. 0.2% prior. Also, watch out for the revisions as the prior months continue to be revised downwards.

This article was written by Giuseppe Dellamotta at www.forexlive.com.

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China PMIs narrowly top expectations 0 (0)

  • Manufacturing PMI 50.2 vs 50.0 (prior 49.7)
  • Non-manufacturing PMI 51.7 vs 51.5 expected (prior 51.0)

The official manufacturing PMI is the important one and it rose above 50 for the first time since March 2023. That line signals expansion/contraction, so while it’s a small beat on expectations, it’s an important one.

Notably, China is on holiday all next week.

This article was written by Adam Button at www.forexlive.com.

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Forexlive Americas FX news wrap: PCE inflation softens but USD still rips into month-end 0 (0)

Markets:

  • Gold down $16 to $1848
  • WTI crude oil down 78-cents to $90.93
  • US 10-year yields down 0.2 bps to 4.57%
  • S&P 500 down 12 points to 4288
  • AUD leads, CAD lags

The quarter ended with some drama as the US dollar shot higher, recouping losses from European and Asian trading and in some cases making new highs. USD/CAD was particularly strong as oil prices reversed lower to finish the week flat.

Once again, Treasury yields turned higher after an early slide. That took down equity markets, which finished largely flat after a strong open.

The reasons for the moves were more to do with quarter-end flows than fundamentals as the inflation numbers in the PCE report were slightly soft and Williams tilted dovish.

Gold was battered once again in a fall to the lowest since mid-March.

The US dollar had been much softer going into North American trade but it gained strongly and broadly to finish largely unchanged on the day. That wraps up trading for the week, month and quarter. I’ll have the October seasonals up on the weekend so check in.

Have a great weekend.

This article was written by Adam Button at www.forexlive.com.

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S&P and Nasdaq have their worst month in 2023. Indices lower for the 3Q too. 0 (0)

The major indices are closing mixed today with the Dow Industrial Average average fearing the worst. The NASDAQ index eked out a small gain for the day. The S&P was lower.

A snapshot of the closing levels shows:

  • Dow industrial average fell -157.50 points or -0.47% at 33508.86
  • S&P index -11.46 points or -0.27% at 4288.23
  • NASDAQ index rose 18.04 points or 0.14% at 13219.31

For the month of September, all three major indices closed lower. The broader S&P and NASDAQ indices had the worst trading month in 2023 (and worst month since December 2023). Looking at the month declines:

  • Dow industrial average fell -3.50%
  • S&P index -4.87%
  • NASDAQ index fell -5.81%

Today is also the closing level for the 3rd quarter, and each of the major indices closed lower

  • Dow Industrial Average fell -2.60%. That was the 1st negative quarter since the 3Q of 2022
  • S&P index fell -3.65%. That too was the 1st negative quarter since the 3Q of 2022
  • NASDAQ index fell -4.12%, which was the first negative quarter since the 4Q of 2022

For the trading year – with one more quarter to go):

  • Dow industrial average is up 1.09%
  • S&P index is up 11.68%
  • NASDAQ index is up 26.30%

Interest rates moved higher this quarter – especially out the yield curve – which helped to depress stock levels:

  • 2-year yield rose 15.8 basis points or 3.22%
  • 5-year yield rose 46.2 basis points or 11.10%
  • 10-year yield moved up 73.8 basis points or 19.20%
  • 30-year yield rose 84 basis points or 21.71%
  • The 2 – 10 year spread steepened by 58 basis points, but is still negative by -47 basis points
  • The 2 – 30 year spread steepened by 69 basis points, but is still negative by -35 basis points

In other markets:

  • Crude oil for the quarter rose $20.27 or 28.68%
  • Gold prices this quarter fell $-71.50 or -3.733%
  • Silver prices fell 59.6 cents or -2.62%.
  • Bitcoin fell $-3535 or 11.61%. Bitcoin still has another 2 days of trading before it’s month end.

In Forex for the 3Q, the US dollar was higher against all the major currency pairs with the largest gain versus the GBP. The smallest gain was averse the CHF (2.28%).:

  • The US dollar index rose 328 pips to 106.204. That’s a gain of 3.19%
  • EURUSD fell -340 pips or -3.16% (USD higher)
  • USDJPY rose 515 pips or 3.57% (USD higher)
  • GBPUSD fell -491 pips or -3.87% (USD higher)
  • USDCHF rose 204 pips or 2.28% (USD higher)
  • USDCAD rose 340 pips or 2.56% (USD higher)
  • AUDUSD fell -223 pips or -3.35% (USD higher)
  • NZDUSD fell -143 pips or -2.32% (USD higher)

This article was written by Greg Michalowski at www.forexlive.com.

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USDJPY: What technical levels are in play for the week starting October 2, 2023. 0 (0)

The USDJPY had a volatile down and up trading day with the full 100 pip move to the downside in the first half of the day, nearly fully retracted in the 2nd half of the day.

The low price today moved to the 200-hour moving average and the picture set midpoint of the move up from last week’s low at 148.507. Support buyers leaned against that level, and pushed the price higher. After trading above and below the 100-hour moving average for a few hours, traders based against the level, and pushed higher. That move to the upside stall just short of the high from earlier today near 149.50.

Going into next week, the 100-hour movie at 149.156 will be the close support and will be a barometer for buyers and sellers. Stay above is more bullish. Move below is more bearish.

A move to the downside would have traders looking toward the 38.2% retracement at 148.79, and then the 200-hour moving average at 148.606 (the moving higher).

On the top side, getting above the high price from yesterday and today at 149.50, would open up the door toward the high for the week at 149.70, followed by the natural resistance at 150.00 level.

If the 150.00 natural resistance target can be broken, I would expect further upside momentum.

Buyers are more in control with the price above the 100-hour moving average and after holding the 200-hour moving average. If the sellers are to take more control they need to get below both those moving averages and stay below..

This article was written by Greg Michalowski at www.forexlive.com.

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