US stocks rallied yesterday as fears of the upcoming US elections started to wane after polls showed a strong lead for Joe Biden. The Nasdaq 100 index rose by 2.6% while the S&P 500 gained 1.6%. Apple shares rose by 6% ahead of the company’s 5G phone launch while Amazon added 4.8% ahead of its Prime Day sales event. The equities also rose ahead of bank earnings. Today, companies like JP Morgan and Citigroup will release their earnings. Other firms that will release this week are Johnson & Johnson and Kinder Morgan. Still, the biggest challenge for the market is more stimulus as the number of covid-19 cases surge.
The New Zealand dollar wavered as the market reacted to the country’s electronic card sales. In September, sales rose by 5.4% on a month-on-month basis. That was a better number than the previous month’s decline of 8.9%. The sales rose by 7.3% on a year-on-year basis. Further, the closely-watched food price index declined by 1%. These numbers are important because they are ideal indicators for the strength of the economy.
The Australian dollar declined slightly after China released mixed economic numbers. The country’s exports rose by 9.9% in September, a better performance than the previous month’s 9.5%. Analysts polled by Reuters expected the exports to increase by 10%. Imports, on the other hand, bounced back from the previous month’s decline of 2.1% to 13.2%. Subsequently, the trade surplus narrowed to $37 billion from $58.93 billion. Separately, we will receive the UK employment numbers, German, United States, and Sweden inflation data. Also, OPEC will release its monthly report.
EUR/USD
The EUR/USD pair declined to an intraday low of 1.1792 in overnight trading. On the hourly chart, the price is approaching the ascending trendline that connects the lowest levels in September and this month. The price has moved below the 25-day and 15-day exponential moving averages and is along the lower side of the Bollinger bands. It also appears to be forming a head and shoulders pattern. Therefore, for today, the pair may continue falling as bears approach the trendline at 1.1780. If it reaches this level, the pair is likely to bounce back and resume the upward trend.
NZD/USD
The NZD/USD pair is little changed after positive retail sales numbers. The pair is trading at 0.6640, which is slightly above the 15-day and 25-day EMA. The price is also below yesterday’s high of 0.6670 while the signal and main lines of the MACD are above the neutral line. The price is a few pips below the previous resistance level of 0.6657.
USD/CHF
The USD/CHF pair dropped to an intraday low of 0.9090 as the market reacted to the Swiss economic forecast by SECO. On the hourly chart, the price is on a downward trend as evidenced by the pink trendline. It is also below the short and medium-term exponential moving averages. The signal and main lines of the MACD and the RSI are also rising. For today, the pair is likely to stay within this range ahead of the US CPI data.
