The US dollar and the Nasdaq 100 index tilted higher on Friday after strong American jobs numbers. The data showed that the American economy added more than 467k jobs in January, in a sign that the economy was doing well. The number was better than the median estimates of less than 200k. On Wednesday, data by ADP estimated that the economy lost over 300k jobs in January. These numbers, coupled with the performance of real yields point to the fact that the Fed will likely start hiking interest rates in March this year.
Cryptocurrency prices continued their bullish rally during the weekend as sentiment improved. Bitcoin crossed the $40,000 level for the first time in almost three weeks. Other coins like Solana, Cardano, and Sandbox continued rallying. As a result, the total market capitalization of all cryptocurrencies tracked by CoinGecko jumped to more than $1.9 trillion. The rally is also because of the ongoing market activity in the industry. For example, last week, FTX announced that it was acquiring Liquid, a Japanese cryptocurrency exchange.
The economic calendar will be a bit muted today, meaning that investors will continue focusing on last week’s decisions by the ECB and the Bank of England. The two banks sounded hawkish, with the BOE hiking interest rates for the second straight meeting. In her press conference, Christine Lagarde refused to rule out that the bank will hike rates later this year. The only key numbers to watch today will be the Swiss unemployment rate and the Halifax house price index (HPI).
EURUSD
The EURUSD pair jumped to a high of 1.1483 after the ECB decision. This was a notable level in January this year. On the four-hour chart, the pair moved above the 25-day and 15-day moving averages while the Relative Strength Index (RSI) has moved above the overbought level. It is also above the dots of the Parabolic SAR. Therefore, the pair will likely retreat slightly as investors start taking profit.
USDCHF
The USDCHF pair rallied ahead of the latest Swiss unemployment rate data. It is trading at 0.9255, which was the highest level since February 1. It has managed to move above the key resistance at 0.9233. It has moved above the 25-day moving average while the Relative Strength Index has moved above the overbought level. Therefore, the pair will likely keep rising as bulls target the key resistance at 0.9300.
EURJPY
The EURJPY has been in a strong bullish trend as investors focus on the divergence between the ECB and the BOJ. It rose to a high of 132.10, which was the highest level in months. It has moved above the key resistance at 131.60, which was the highest level in January. It is also along the upper side of the Bollinger Bands while the Relative Strength Index (RSI) has been rising. Therefore, the pair may soon have a pullback on profit-taking.
