The US dollar index rose slightly in the Asian session after a major victory for Donald Trump over the weekend. On Saturday, the Senate voted to confirm Brett Kavanaugh as the next Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court replacing Justice Kennedy who resigned a few months ago. The confirmation ended a week of major political drama. Democrats attacked the judge based on the sexual harassment allegations that had been made against him. They also attacked his temperament. The news helped to unify the Republican Party ahead of the midterms.
Trump said: “I applaud and congratulate the U.S. Senate for confirming our GREAT NOMINEE, Judge Brett Kavanaugh, to the United States Supreme Court.”
The Swiss Franc was little moved ahead of key employment data from Switzerland. Shortly after the European markets open, Switzerland will release employment numbers which are expected to show that the national unemployment rate remained unchanged at 2.4%. This number has not changed in the past four months.
The euro was little changed against the US dollar as traders wait for important industrial production data from Germany. They expect the data to show that production rose in September to 0.4% after a contraction of minus 0.4% in August. This data measures the change in the total inflation-adjusted value of output produced by manufacturers, mines, and utilities.
EUR/USD
The EUR/USD pair is trading at the 1.1510 level, which is slightly higher than last week’s low of 1.1463. This price is close to the 38.3% Fibonacci Retracement level and along the middle band of the Bollinger Bands. The momentum indicator crossed the important 100 or zero level while the parabolic SAR indicator is signalling an upward momentum. Today, with no major news expected from the US, Germany’s industrial production data could be the key catalyst for the pair’s movement.
USD/CHF
The USD/CHF pair was little changed in the Asian session today. It is trading at 0.9913, which is slightly lower than last week’s high of 0.9955. The pair has found a strong resistance around this level. The 21-day and 14-day Exponential Moving Averages (EMA) are showing signs that the upward momentum could be ending. The RSI has moved from the overbought level of 70 and is currently at 64. The pair could continue the upward trend until it reaches parity.
USD/JPY
The USD/JPY pair rose slightly in the Asian session. It reached an intraday high of 113.93. This movement was important because the pair reached the 200-day EMA level on the hourly chart below. Today, the pair will likely continue moving up, possibly to test the important level of 114.
