The price of crude oil rose in the morning session as tensions between the United States and Iran continued. Tensions started after a number of oil tankers were attacked at the Strait of Hormuz. The US blamed Iran for the attacks. A few days later, Iran shot down an American spy drone. In response to this, Trump ordered a retaliatory attack on Iran but cancelled it at the last minute. Over the weekend, US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo announced that more sanctions on Iran will be put in place this week in response to the attacks. In addition to the Middle East tensions, traders are paying attention to the upcoming OPEC+ meeting in Vienna this week.
On Friday, US stocks continued rallying after receiving support from the Federal Reserve. In the monetary policy meeting held on Tuesday, members agreed not to hike interest rates. There was also consensus that members will adjust the interest rates policy in response to the weak US economy. Recent data has shown that the US and the global economy is easing as the trade war intensifies.
Later today, investors will receive sentiment data from Germany. The German ifo business climate index is expected to decline from 97.9 to 97.4. The current assessment is expected to decrease slightly from 100.6 to 100.3 while the business expectations data is expected to decline from 95.3 to 94.6. In the United States, investors will receive the Chicago Fed national activity for May, which is expected to improve slightly from -0.45 to 0.10.
EUR/USD
The EUR/USD pair was relatively unmoved in the Asian session today. It is trading at 1.1380, which is along the upper line of the Bollinger Bands. The RSI has moved to the overbought level of 70 while the Bulls Power has continued to rise. The price is above the 25-day and 50-day moving averages. With no major economic data expected today, the pair could remain relatively unchanged.
XBR/USD
The XBR/USD pair rose today as tensions in the Middle East increased. The pair is now trading at 64.61. On the four-hour chart, the price is above the 50-day and 25-day moving averages while the RSI has remained above the overbought level. The signal and the RVI lines of the relative vigor index too has continued moving higher. The price could continue to soar as tensions rise and ahead of the OPEC+ meeting.
BTC/USD
The price of Bitcoin continued to soar as investors cheered the recent entry of Facebook into the industry. The BTC/USD pair reached a high of $11,240, which is the highest level since last year. On the daily chart, the pair is above all the short and medium-term moving averages while the RSI has continued to remain above the overbought level. The signal line of the MACD has also continued to rise. With the momentum being high, the price could continue moving higher.
