The Dow Jones, S&P 500, and Nasdaq 100 indices tilted higher after positive corporate results. On Tuesday, UBS reported that 2021 was its best year in over 15 years as the wealth management segment performed well. In the US, ExxonMobil announced strong results, helped by rising oil and gas prices. The firm made a profit of $8.9 billion, beating the consensus estimate of $8.4 billion. It will launch a $10 billion buyback program. Its annual profit came in at over $23 billion. Alphabet, the parent company of Google and Android announced strong results, helped by strong ad and cloud revenue.
The US dollar eased against most currencies after strong economic numbers from the US. According to Markit, the manufacturing PMI came in at 54.5 in January, which was a better performance than the median estimate of 53.5. On the other hand, data by the Institute of Supply Management (ISM) showed that the PMI rose to 57.6 in January. The strong performance was mostly because of the rising demand from both local and international buyers. Most manufacturers complaint about the rising cost of doing business. Later today, the currency will react to the latest ADP jobs data.
The euro rose against the US dollar and sterling after strong Eurozone jobs and manufacturing PMI data. According to Eurostat, the bloc’s unemployment rate declined to a record low of 7.0% in December. That was a sign that the European recovery is doing better than estimated. Later today, the currency will react to the preliminary inflation data for February. Analysts expect the data to show that consumer prices dropped to 4.4% in January from 5.0% in December.
XBRUSD
The XBRUSD pair held steady as investors refocused on the upcoming OPEC meeting. There is chatter that the cartel will agree to gradually increase production considering that demand is rising globally. The pair is trading at 88.95, which is slightly below this year’s high of 90. It is along the 25-day moving average while the MACD and the Relative Strength Index (RSI) are at a neutral level. Therefore, the pair will likely have a bullish break-out later this week.
EURUSD
The EURUSD pair rose to a high of 1.1280, which was the highest level since January 27. On the four-hour chart, the price is slightly below the 38.2% Fibonacci retracement level. It is also slightly above the 25-day moving average while the Relative Strength Index (RSI) has been rising. Therefore, the pair will likely keep rising as bulls target the next key resistance at 1.1300.
XAUUSD
XAUUSD pair held steady as gold attempted to make a comeback. The pair is trading at 1,803, which is higher than this week’s low of 1,780. On the four-hour chart, the pair is slightly above the 38.2% Fibonacci retracement level. It has also formed what looks like a bearish flag pattern while the Relative Strength Index (RSI) has moved slightly above the oversold level. Therefore, the pair will likely keep rising ahead of US jobs data.
