ActivTrades’ Market Analysts have prepared for LeapRate their daily commentary on traditional markets for August 21, 2019. See details below:
FOREX
The US Dollar remains pretty much where it started at the beginning of the week, with the Dollar Index, which measures the performance of the greenback against a basket of other major currencies, hovering just above the 98.1 level. It is August and liquidity is typically low because many investors are away on holiday but this week, the seasonally low activity is compounded by the markets reticence to act before big events. These will be the publishing of the July FOMC meeting minutes, later today, and of course the Jackson Hole symposium of central bank leaders, on Friday. Investors are waiting to see how aligned the FED is, as well as other main central banks, with the general market sentiment, that the times ahead should bring easing and stimulus.
Ricardo Evangelista – Senior Analyst, ActivTrades
GOLD
Gold is declining below $1,500, confirming the consolidation phase that has taken place in the last few days. Despite this, the main trend remains bullish, with further rallies that seems likely in the medium term, while in the short term the scenario is lateral, with prices that could draw a lateral range between $1,475 and $1,530, inside the body of the chart of the August 13th. Any move below or above these thresholds could trigger of a new directional movement.
Gold chart
Carlo Alberto De Casa – Chief Analyst, ActivTrades
EUROPEAN SHARES
Shares are climbing in Europe despite a mixed trading session in Asia. Investors are still digesting the latest trade talks news as President Trump doesn’t seem to be in a hurry to solve the dispute with China. However, this isn’t having a significant impact on stock prices at the moment; market sentiment seems upbeat as most traders maintain their focus on what they expect will happen at the end of the week. EU flash PMI data is due tomorrow but most investors are awaiting the Jackson Hole meeting during which Jerome Powell’s speech will be scrutinized for more clues on monetary policy, especially after President Trump called for another “big” interest rate cut.
The G7 meeting in France, where world leaders are to discuss the weakest global growth since the financial crisis, will also be very important as investors will pay attention to possible structural reforms to tackle a global slowdown. In Europe, Carmakers are leading the board helping the Eurostoxx-50 index to move higher today. But while the market is trading higher prices remain capped by the strong 3,375.0pts resistance level, the last one before 3,400.0pts.
Italy’s political turmoil, after Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte’s resignation yesterday, doesn’t seem to scare traders as the FTSE-MIB index of Milan is registering the best performance of the Euro-zone with prices trading well above 20,600.0pts at 20,760.0pts currently. The next resistance level is located 100-points higher around 20,860.0pts while the first available support is slightly above 20,730.0pts.
Eurostoxx-50 index
Pierre Veyret– Technical analyst, ActivTrades