One year since oil went negative!

TAKEAWAYS

•    EUR/USD tops 1.20, GBP/USD near 1.40 again as dollar weakens
•    USD/JPY drops to lowest since March 8
•    NZD/USD: Global Dairy Trade (GDT) auction begins at midday in London
•    It’s one year since the US crude oil futures price turned negative
•    Gold price nears $1800 per oz
•    Bitcoin price steadies after weekend sharp decline
•    Nasdaq drops 1% as tech stocks pause after rally
•    Joe Biden ‘willing to compromise’ on infrastructure spending plan
•    Facebook announces its own ‘clubhouse’ audio competitor 
•    DAY AHEAD: PBOC rate decision, Netflix earnings

BEST CHART
GBP/USD– 4-hour Candlesticks

 
Source: GKFX Prime / Metatrader 4 

GBP/USD rallied strongly into major resistance from the March peaks and the 1.40 round number. The high from April 6 offers potential support to any pullback.

GURU WISDOM

I always define my risk, and I don’t have to worry about it.” – Tony Saliba

MARKETS

*Daily closing price
↗ EUR/USD    1.2038        (+0.58%)
↗ GBP/USD    1.3986        (+1.21%)
↘ USD/JPY    108.15        (-0.52%)
↘ S&P 500    4163.28    (-0.53%)
↘ Gold        1771.10    (-0.35%)
↗ Oil (Brent)    67.12        (+1.07%)
↗ Bitcoin    56,252        (+2.94%)

NEWS

It’s one year since the price of oil famously turned negative. On April 20, 2020 the front Month May contract for WTI crude oil dropped over 300% to close at minus $37.63 per barrel. It was brought on by short-term storage problems. Traders that bought oil at the time have enjoyed a rally up to $70 per barrel as of last month.

Forex markets saw some volatility on Monday with a solid 150 pip jump in GBP/USD following the outside day pattern mentioned in yesterday’s update. Weakness in the dollar saw most major currencies gain with the euro adding 50 pips to finally rise over the 1.20 handle. The gains in the euro pose a potential challenge for the ECB that meets this week to set policy. 

Bitcoin stabilised under $57,000 after its weekend slump from record highs. Comments from a Chinese official calling Bitcoin an “investment alternative” were taken as a change in tone towards cryptocurrencies from Beijing, which has been cracking down on crypto mining and exchanges in the country for the past few years. 

It was a slow day in stock markets as investors took a breather before another week of earnings. Netflix reports after the close today with a big weight of expectation around the FAANG stocks to justify the tech stock rally over the past 3 weeks.

DAY AHEAD

 
*Times in GMT
01:30 - PBoC Interest Rate Decision [3.85 % Exp vs. 3.85 % Prev]
01:30 - RBA Meeting Minutes 
06:00 – UK Claimant Count Change(Mar) [24.5 K Exp vs. 86.6 K Prev]
06:00 – Germany Producer Price Index (YoY)(Mar) [3.3 % Exp vs. 1.9 % Prev]
22:45 – New Zealand Consumer Price Index (YoY)(Q1) [1.4 % Exp vs. 1.4 % Prev]

SOURCES

https://www.gkfxprime.com/trading-tools/economic-calendar
https://www.forexlive.com/cryptocurrency/!/black-sunday-for-crypto-as-bitcoin-and-others-plunge-20210418
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/04/15/stock-market-futures-open-to-close-news.html
https://www.investing.com/analysis/week-ahead-inflation-fears-earnings-results-could-collide-adding-volatility-200573681