American stocks surged to record highs as investors cheered the performance of this year’s Christmas holiday. The S&P 500 index rose to an all-time high of $4,760 as retail stocks led. Among the biggest winners were companies like Target, Walmart, and Costco. Data by Mastercard SpendingPulse showed that sales rose by 8.5% over the holiday season. This period starts on November 1 and ends on December 24th. Sales in stores rose by 8.1% compared to a year earlier, while e-commerce sales jumped by 11%. The latter made up about 20% of the total sales, which was higher than 14.6% before the pandemic started.
The price of crude oil rose in the overnight session as investors reflected on cancelled Christmas holiday flights. More than 1,300 flights were cancelled by American Airlines as more employees called in sick with Covid-19. There is also a likelihood that the number of Covid-19 infections will continue rising for a while in the coming year. Still, oil investors are optimistic because most Covid cases are of the Omicron variant. And recent data showed that the variant is a lot milder than the other variants. It also does not require hospitalization. Focus shifts to the actions by OPEC and its allies, considering that they will meet in the coming week.
As on Monday, the economic calendar will be relatively muted today. Earlier today, Japan published strong unemployment rate and industrial production data. The numbers showed that the country’s unemployment rate remained below 3%. The jobs to applications ratio also improved from 1.15 in October to 1.16 in November. Other data to watch today will be Hong Kong’s trade data and Sweden’s household lending data. The US will also publish the latest house price index data.
EURUSD
The EURUSD pair tilted upwards in the overnight session, although volume remained under pressure. The pair rose to a high of 1.1328. On the four-hour chart, the pair managed to move slightly above the 25-day moving average. It is also approaching the upper side of the horizontal channel. Also, oscillators like the Relative Strength Index (RSI) have pointed upwards. Therefore, the pair will likely remain inside this range today.
USDCHF
The USDCHF pair declined sharply as the US dollar declined broadly. The pair is trading at 0.9175, which is along the lower line of the Bollinger Bands on the four-hour chart. It also moved slightly below the 25-day moving average, while the Stochastic Oscillator moved below the overbought level. The pair will likely keep falling today, with the next key target being at 0.9150.
EURJPY
The EURJPY pair rose to a high of 130, which was the highest level since November 16. The pair managed to cross the key resistance level at 129.77, which was the highest level last week. It has also moved slightly above the 25-day and 50-day moving averages and the dots of the Parabolic Oscillator. Therefore, the path of the least resistance for the pair is to the upside.
