The US Dollar (via DXY Index), sparked by new Fed Chair Jerome Powell's testimony, has showed signs of finally emerging from a potential bottom. Price closed above two key trend levels yesterday: the downtrend from the December 18, January 11, and now February 21 highs; as well as the descending channel top off of the January 17 and February 8 highs.
Price Chart 1: DXY Index Daily Timeframe (August 2017 to February 2018)
While this may mean that a broad USD-bearish bias is no longer applicable, we're still of the mindset that a true bottom can't be called until the DXY Index clears out 91.01, the former 2017 low and swing highs from mid-January.
In turn, it's best to look at USD-pairs on a case-by-case basis if we are no longer applying a bearish bias in broad strokes. In particular, we're going to want to keep an eye on EUR/USD, which constitutes 57.6% of the DXY Index. A close through 91.01 in DXY, where there was a failed morning doji star candle cluster between January 15-17, corresponds with a move below 1.2365 in EUR/USD, where there was a failed evening doji start candle cluster during that same period in mid-January.
One currency sticks out among the rest, however, given price action yesterday and during the month of February, generally: the Japanese Yen. The prospect of tighter Fed monetary policy proved to be a negative development for higher yielding currencies and risk-correlated assets. Notably, AUD/JPY and CAD/JPY continue to trade lower against their daily 8-EMAs, while EUR/JPY has broken significant support dating back to September.
See the video for technical considerations in the DXY Index, EUR/USD, USD/CHF, USD/CAD, AUD/JPY, CAD/JPY, and EUR/JPY.
Disclosure: DailyFX, the free news and research website of leading forex and CFD broker FXCM, delivers up-to-date analysis of the ...
Disclosure: DailyFX, the free news and research website of leading forex and CFD broker FXCM, delivers up-to-date analysis of the fundamental and technical influences driving the currency and commodity markets. With nine internationally-based analysts publishing over 30 articles and producing 5 video news updates daily, DailyFX offers in-depth coverage of price action, predictions of likely market moves, and exhaustive interpretations of salient economic and political developments. DailyFX is also home to one of the most powerful economic calendars available on the web, complete with advanced sorting capabilities, detailed descriptions of upcoming events on the economic docket, and projections of how economic report data will impact the markets. Combined with the free charts and live rate updates featured on DailyFX, the DailyFX economic calendar is an invaluable resource for traders who heavily rely on the news for their trading strategies. Additionally, DailyFX serves as a portal to one the most vibrant online discussion forums in the forex trading community. Avoiding market noise and the irrelevant personal commentary that plague many forex blogs and forums, the DailyFX Forum has established a reputation as being a place where real traders go to talk about serious trading.
Any opinions, news, research, analyses, prices, or other information contained on dailyfx.com are provided as general market commentary, and does not constitute investment advice. Dailyfx will not accept liability for any loss or damage, including without limitation to, any loss of profit, which may arise directly or indirectly from use of or reliance on such information.