The price of crude oil opened lower after signs of rising supply. On Friday, data by Baker Hughes and Enverous showed that rig count continued to rise. In total, oil rigs increased by 2 to 387, which is higher than last year’s low of 272. This is still below last year’s high of 676. Natural gas rigs also continued to increase. These numbers are early indicators that oil supply will continue rising even as demand concerns remain. Later this week, we will receive US inventories by the American Petroleum Institute and Energy Information Administration (EIA).
The price of cryptocurrencies rallied during the weekend, erasing most of the losses they suffered last week. The price of Ether has increased by $200 to $1,432, which is close to its all-time high. Bitcoin has risen by $850 to $32,712 while Bitcoin Cash has risen to $450. This performance is likely due to the rising demand for cryptocurrencies from institutional investors. Recently, institutions like Mass Mutual, MicroStrategy, and Square have invested billions of dollars in the industry.
The economic calendar will be relatively muted today after the significant activities last week when central banks delivered their decisions. The most prominent ones were the European Central Bank (ECB), Bank of Canada (BOC), and Bank of Japan (BOJ). This week’s focus will be on the Federal Reserve, which will deliver its decision on Thursday. Today, we will receive German business climate and assessment data and a speech by Christine Lagarde. Also, the focus will be on corporate earnings, with companies like Apple, Microsoft, and Facebook set to publish their results.
EUR/USD
The EUR/USD pair is a little changed today ahead of the key speech by Lagarde. On the four-hour chart, this price is between the first support and the median line of the Andrew’s Pitchfork tool. It is also slightly higher than the 25-day and 15-day EMAs and slightly below the 23.6% Fibonacci retracement level. Therefore, the pair will likely continue rising as bulls target the middle of the pitchfork at 1.2225.
GBP/USD
The GBP/USD is still in its recovery path in part because of a weaker dollar. It is trading at 1.3702, which is lower than last week’s low of 1.3500. On the four-hour chart, this price is slightly above the 25-day moving average and the ascending blue trendline. The Relative Strength Index has also continued moving upwards. Therefore, the pair will likely rise as bulls target the year-to-date high at 1.3745.
ETH/USD
ETH/USD rose to a three-year high of 1,475 as demand for the cryptocurrencies and altcoins continued to rise. On the daily chart, the price is above all moving averages while oscillators like the Relative Strength Index and the MACD have also continued to rise. By paring-back last week’s losses, it means that bulls have the momentum and the price will continue rising.
