The euro is gaining ground to the dollar during early Wednesday trading, following Janet Yellen’s comments to the Senate finance committee in Washington as well as Italian Prime Minister Comte surviving a vote of confidence. Yellen, the Biden nominee for treasury secretary, reaffirmed her belief in the importance of the stimulus package proposed by the incoming administration and the continuation of the Fed’s dovish monetary stance. The combination of these two policies is likely to decrease real interest rates even further, generating conditions conducive to further dollar weakness. Meanwhile, in Rome the Italian Prime Minister survived the departure of one of his coalition partners, avoiding a political crisis that potentially could have affected the confidence of investors in the single currency. Considering these two scenarios it seems reasonable to expect more dollar weakness ahead.
Oil is confirming its positive momentum with WTI rebounding above $53. Market sentiment remains positive as traders are building further long positions, in a clear bet on the demand side recovering once the vaccinations defeat the virus, putting an end to the lockdown of the last few months. Moreover, the price seems to be supported by the cuts decided by Saudi Arabia just a few hours after the last OPEC+ meeting. Technically we would have another positive signal if WTI breaks through resistance at $53.90-$54, coming on the back of rebounds above first $52.70 then $53, which already showed there is support for the black gold.
Carlo Alberto De Casa – Chief analyst, ActivTrades
EUROPEAN SHARES
Equity markets traded higher on Wednesday as the “risk-on” trading stance still prevails, driven by current stimulus plans and corporate results. Investors seem to be pricing such a distant future that even the extended restriction measures, now in place in many countries, are no longer affecting market sentiment significantly. Most market operators now have their eyes on the end of the pandemic of course but also towards earnings as well as the future of international trade, anticipating brighter prospects everywhere. Today’s trading session is however likely to become volatile as many traders wait for major macro data from Canada, the UK and the US as well as earnings from Procter & Gamble, Alcoa, Soitec and Morgan Stanley.
Pierre Veyret– Technical analyst, ActivTrades
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Experienced writer and journalist, working in the global online trading sector, Steffy is the Editor of LeapRate. She has previous experience as a copywriter and has been with the company since January 2020. Steffy has a British and American Studies degree from St. Kliment Ochridski University in Sofia.
