3 decades ago,
investing was an activity which was reserved for a select few over on Wall
Street. Today, however, virtually anyone can access the market right out of
their pocket.

 

Technology advanced to
the point in which we can buy and sell assets like stocks, crypto, or
currencies with just a little tap on our phone.

 

Forex trading is no stranger to this
transformation as it felt the technological advance in remarkable ways.

 

Friction was severely
reduced for forex traders

 

Traders can now log on
to their preferred digital investment platform and have a wide range of
currencies from which they can choose to trade. Trades are now more efficient,
and cost-effectiveness has also greatly improved.

 

Accordingly, costs are
now low, settlement speed has greatly increased, and transparency has been
massively improved.

 

Technology is a synonym
of inclusiveness in Forex trading

 

All of the factors
described above have greatly contributed as drivers of innovation and
competition, as they made the inclusion of new technologies such as
machine-learning and artificial intelligence a reality in trading.

New technologies have also
made forex trading a more inclusive process as they reduced its costs, thus
creating overall benefits, but also by powering innovation hubs in newly
emerged markets across the world.

 

Centers for financial
technology and digital hubs have risen across the globe further strengthening
the value chain by empowering FX growth and FX fast growing capital.

 

But as companies sprout
everywhere it is important to find and stick with the best forex technology
provider

 

With several new
platforms and forex software providers appearing out of nowhere many will agree
that we’ve seen the democratization of forex.

The issue with forex
liberalization in the early 21st century was that the companies which spawned
we’re basically forex providers with a one-track business model: undercutting
banks.

 

As such, they would
usually charge an opaque mark-up on their clients instead of a transparent fee.
However, what investors really wanted lied beyond an undercut.

 

Whether through easy
access to the markets, a wide range of instruments or a simple training
analysis view, traders wanted to be empowered by their brokers.

 

Consequently, reliability
is a quality which only a select few brokers have earned over the years

 

In fact, transparency
and reliability are probably the most important things in the trading sector.

 

This is why reliable
brokers get recognized as such. Looking back at this year’s Ultimate Fintech
2022, one of the most prestigious and reputable events in the world of finance,
one can see how FxGrow took the lead by winning both the Most Reliable Broker
award and the Best White Label Solution award.

 

 

FxGrow has been winning awards consistently over
the years making it a great example of how a reputable forex broker establishes
itself and puts their clients first.

So, what exactly is the
future of forex?

 

What the future of
forex will look like is still up in the air. Some claim that with its growing
popularity it might be headed towards a blockchain solution.

 

Others will say that it
is important to reduce friction as much as possible first, that forex trading
needs to be done quicker and in a more cost-effective manner.

 

Regardless of where
forex is headed, finding a reliable and transparent broker, one which you will
be glad to have by your side is mandatory.

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

• Prior -1

UK retailers continue to report falling sales in June, with the report highlighting that they are also expecting sales next month to be well below normal for this time of the year. If anything else, this just underscores the fallout amid the cost-of-living crisis that is weighing on consumption activity. CBI notes that:

„Retail volumes are struggling as high inflation eats away at consumers‘ budgets. The squeeze on household income appears to have offset any boost to activity from the extended Platinum Jubilee bank holiday earlier this month.“

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

It’s shaping up to be a risk-off day as the storm clouds are weighing on market sentiment again after a bit of a breather in the first two days this week. European equities are down heavily across the board and we’re now seeing key indices start to hit their lowest levels since March in trading today.

The DAX is down 2.3%, CAC 40 down 1.9%, and FTSE MIB down 2.3% and are all looking poised for a potential drop towards their respective March lows:

The losses aren’t contained to European indices as US futures are also enduring a torrid time so far on the day. The S&P 500 gained by ~90 points in trading yesterday but futures are pointing to a ~70 points decline, or down 1.9%, at the moment.

Higher and more persistent inflation, central bank tightening and a deteriorating economic outlook continue to present a major challenge to the market landscape for the time being. The worst part? It doesn’t look like those dispositions will change any time soon.

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

Bitcoin
rallied from $20.5K to $21.6K during the day on Tuesday but later reversed to
decline and went back on Wednesday morning. Ether corrected deeply, losing 4.4%
over the last 24 hours. The top ten altcoins showed mixed dynamics, ranging
from a 6.5% decline (Solana) to a 3.6% gain (Dogecoin).

 

Total crypto
market capitalisation, according to CoinMarketCap, declined 1.9% to $900bn.
Bitcoin’s dominance index dropped 0.2 points to 43.5%. The Cryptocurrency Fear
and Greed Index is up 2 points to 11 by Wednesday and remains in a state of
“extreme fear”.

 

After a
strong move down last week and a retreat from the extremes on Sunday, BTCUSD
failed to gain ground with buyers and remained pegged at the round level of
$20K.

 

Bitcoin’s
recent drop below $20K triggered a new wave of deleveraging and liquidations
that affected miners and long-term investors, Glassnode claims.

 

Ethereum
co-founder Vitalik Buterin criticised the popular Stock-to-Flow model for
predicting bitcoin exchange rates, saying it is wrong and only gives people
unwarranted confidence in the predetermination of exchange rate movements.

Investors
are buying bitcoin despite the market’s decline. According to CoinShares,
crypto funds saw capital outflows of $39m last week, while there were inflows
of $28m into BTC.

 

Investors
have, in our view, false confidence in their strengths. It is commonly believed
in the media that retail investors were the first to buy out the 2020 bottom
and who managed to beat the funds in 2021 using the r/wallstreetbets forum.

 

But then the
Fed and many other central banks, along with governments, were on the buyers’
side, conducting unprecedented policy easing and handing out monetary stimulus.
Now they are doing the opposite: rolling back support programmes and raising
rates at the highest rate in decades.

 

Retail
shoppers risk being caught swimming against the financial current, which is
hardly a successful strategy. History suggests that enthusiasts risk running out
of steam soon, being left with depreciating assets, and losing confidence for
years that equity or cryptocurrency markets are a worthwhile place for their
money

 

This article was written by FxPro’s Senior Market Analyst Alex
Kuptsikevich.

This article was written by FxPro FXPro at www.forexlive.com.

• The new tool should be different as circumstances are not the same
• It will be different from PEPP, APP or OMT programmes

The OMT was designed to cater more towards a crisis of solvency a decade ago and that isn’t exactly the main challenge that the ECB is facing right now. It is arguably the tool that has the closest set of characteristics desired by the central bank to counter fragmentation but it offers up a lot of political challenges as well. Don’t expect Italy to sign up for any of that.

Ideally, the new tool should come with the right kind of economic components offered up from the OMT but without the political stipulations. It is going to be hard to do that while having to navigate backlash from its own members, especially Germany. So, we’ll have to see how creative policymakers can be in the weeks/months ahead.

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

The speed bump from jawboning by Japanese officials and market concern about a BOJ policy pivot slowed down the USD/JPY surge in the past week but now that we’ve cleared the latter, it is looking like buyers are taking charge again. The pair is now running up to 135.96, its highest since October 1998.

The technical dominoes continue to fall by every 500 pips for USD/JPY since breaking the 120.00 mark and there is little resistance from hereon until we get towards 140.00 potentially. That will be the next big psychological level as to whether we might see firmer intervention by Japanese officials.

Otherwise, the continued policy divergence and lack of buying conviction in bonds amid continued central bank tightening and surging inflation will just continue to present headwinds for the Japanese yen.

Another pair which I have been rather fond of since last week has been CHF/JPY and it is up for a fourth consecutive day, trading to 140.40 – up 500 pips since the SNB policy pivot.

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

The German network regulator reiterates its call to save as much gas as possible as the country faces a shortage emergency amid a cut in supplies from Russia. The country is turning to coal-fired power plants again to ensure electricity continuity and is a serious blow to ambitions reduce coal usage by the turn of the decade.

It’s not just Germany that is being affected by this at the moment. Italy, Austria, and the Netherlands are all facing a similar predicament.

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

• Prior 26

UK industrial order books slip in June but the good news is that price expectations also eased to a 9-month low. It is a bit contrasting with rising consumer inflation but CBI notes that this could be „the first signs that weaker activity is beginning to slow the pace of price increases in the sector“.

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

Equities are reflecting a more risk-on mood so far on the day and that is translating to a softer dollar in European morning trade. The greenback and the yen are the two weakest performers, as European stocks are seeing solid gains on the session alongside US futures. Here’s a snapshot of the equities space before we get to some dollar charts:

• Eurostoxx +1.3%
• Germany DAX +1.1%
• France CAC 40 +1.7%
• UK FTSE +0.8%
• S&P 500 futures +1.9%*
• Nasdaq futures +2.0%*
• Dow futures +1.7%*

*relative to Friday levels

The euro is among the better performers so far with EUR/USD climbing from 1.0520 to 1.0580 on the session, helped by continued hawkish remarks by ECB policymakers.

The high last week near 1.0600 will offer up some minor resistance with the daily close one to watch as to whether buyers can keep a hold above the 50.0 Fib retracement level at 1.0566. For now, the near-term bias is more bullish upon the push above the 200-hour moving average (blue line) earlier in the day.

Meanwhile, GBP/USD has also managed to climb above 1.2300 and is up 0.5% on the day currently:

The 1.2400 level will still offer sterner resistance with traders continuing to try and sort out the divergence story in the pair.

Elsewhere, USD/CAD is pinned near the lows and is down 0.5% to 1.2910 amid a double-top pattern being formed just above 1.3050:

The better risk appetite and higher oil prices (WTI crude up 2% to $111.85) are both also contributing to a stronger loonie on the day.

Looking at other commodity currencies, the gains are more measured with AUD/USD up 0.4% to 0.6975 and still keeping below 0.7000 and its 200-hour moving average at 0.6996. NZD/USD is up 0.3% to 0.6355 with the Friday high at 0.6395 keeping a lid on any upside push for the time being.

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

Well, market odds have already priced in at least 75 bps for both July and September combined. It is now down to the ECB to deliver on that as such. ECB policymaker Kažimír is also out saying that negative rates „should be a thing of history“ by September.

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