AUD/USD Weekly Technical Forecast (Sep 6-10 2010)

After a great week, another busy one expects Aussie traders. The RBA’s rate decision and employment figures are the highlights. Here’s an outlook for Australian events and an updated technical analysis for AUD/USD.

AUD/USD daily graph with support and resistance lines on it. Click to enlarge:



The Aussie enjoyed lots of good figures, with the Q2 GDP growth of 1.2% being a great positive surprise. The better-than-expected retail sales figure and especially building approvals, showed that also in Q3, the Australian economy is warming up once again. Will this lead to a renewal of rate hikes?

1. MI Inflation Gauge: Published on Monday at 12:30 GMT. The Melbourne Institute’s inflation gauge fills in for the government, that publishes an official inflation figure only once per quarter. According to MI, inflation slowed down from 0.5% three months ago, down to 0.1% last month. A similar 0.1% rise is expected this time.


2. ANZ Job Advertisements: Published on Monday at 1:30 GMT. The amount of jobs published in the media serves as a good indicator for the official employment figures released 3 days later. Last month saw a smaller growth in ads, only 1.3%, and indeed, the gain in jobs was slower than previous months. This time, the rise in ads is expected to slightly stronger.


3. AIG Construction Index: Published on Monday at 23:30 GMT. The Australia Industry Group showed that the construction sector is slowing down, even contracting in the past two months. The index was under the critical 50 point mark, and this shows an economic squeeze. This goes hand in hand with the slowdown in other housing sector figures – a result of the rate hikes. It’s expected to recover, but remain under 50 points this time.


4. Rate decision: Published on Tuesday at 4:30 GMT. 4 months have passed since the last rate hike, the sixth since the financial crisis. The hikes took their toll on the economy, and especially on real estate, so Glenn Stevens and his colleagues at the RBA decided to pause on recent months. Also now, the Cash Rate is expected to remain unchanged at 4.50%. The focus will be on the accompanying statement which will hint about future moves.


5. Home Loans: Published on Wednesday at 1:30 GMT. This important housing sector figure always rocks the Aussie. After a sharp fall of 3.9% last month and many bad months beforehand as well, the number of loans is expected to grow by 1.1% this time, boosting the Aussie.


6. Employment data: Published on Thursday at 1:30 GMT. After months of excellent figures, last month’s employment numbers were somewhat mixed. Employment Change rose by 23.5K, slightly better than expected, but the unemployment rate jumped to 5.3%, which was a quite a disappointment. A similar gain in jobs, 25.3K is expected now. The unemployment is expected to fall back down to 5.2%. Any result will rock the Aussie.


7. Guy Debelle talks: Starts speaking on Thursday at 3:00 GMT. RBA deputy governor Dr. Guy Debelle might say more about the fresh rate decision, and add prospects about the future. It’s important to note that in a speech last week, Debelle didn’t mention anything related to monetary policy.


8. Chinese Trade Balance: Published during Friday. Australia’s main trade partner has a strong impact on the Aussie. This time, the trade balance of the world’s second largest economy will be closely watched. This figure is also sensitive for the value of the Chinese yuan, which is closely monitored by the US. China’s surplus is expected to squeeze from 28.7 to 26.9 billion.

AUD/USD Technical Analysis

The Australian dollar dropped gradually at the beginning of the week, and found support at the 0.8870 line (mentioned in last week’s outlook). It then made a sharp recovery, crossing 0.90 easily, struggling with 0.9080 and finally jumping above 0.9135 to close at 0.9143.

The Aussie is now bound between the 0.9135 line which worked as support back in April, and 0.9220, which was a support line in March and also capped the Aussie at the beginning of August.

Looking down, 0.9080 is the next support line. It was a double top in July and the Aussie leaped above it during a weekend. Lower, the round number of 0.90 provides support. This psychological number was also a swing low in March.

The 0.8870 line was tested in the past week and also capped the pair twice in recent months. It now serves as strong support. 0.8735 was a low point in December 2009 and also in July – minor support now.

Lower, 0.8567 was a support line back in 2009, and also worked as resistance in May. Below, 0.8316 was a double bottom in July and provides strong support. The final line is the year-to-date low 0f 0.8066.

Looking up above 0.9220, the next line is a very strong one – 0.9327. It capped the Aussie many times in the past year. A break above this line will send the pair towards immediate resistance at 0.9366, which was a stubborn line in April.

The 2009 high of 0.9405 is the next resistance line, and it’s followed by 0.95, which was last reached only in 2008.

I remain bullish on the Aussie.

The past week’s strong GDP figures, and a good outcome from the job figures on this busy Australian week, should provide the basis for further gains.

EUR/USD Is Ending Its Bullish Correction?

Euro/Dollar had another positive week, but it failed to break above the important long term resistance line. Also the short term trends show an exhaustion. Will it turn down?

EUR/USD began a strong upwards move on last week’s Non-Farm Payrolls but couldn’t break the resistance line. These moves came on top of US weakness and not on an improvement in Europe. Yohay already wrote about these issues earlier this week on forexcrunch . Now let’s look at another technical aspect.



Looking at the hourly chart, we can see a rising uptrend channel that accompanied the Euro in the past week. This can be seen in the graph. The top of this uptrend channel was challenged more than 3 times, and is very clear. As the Euro climbed upwards, it closely followed this top border.

The bottom border of this line was approached three times. While the pair stayed away from this line during most of the week, it closed at 1.2639, quite close to it. Together with the failure to making a convincing break above 1.2672 (which was the peak on May 21st) and settling at the bottom of the uptrend channel, this shows again that EUR/USD is out of air.

Apart for the regular events that are expecting us (detailed in the Euro dollar forecasts), there’s a very important one-time event on July 23rd – results of the bank stress tests. This will determine how the European banks are dealing with the debt crisis, the big issue looming over the Euro-zone in the past few months.

AUD/USD Weekly Technical Forecast (June 28-July 2 2010)

Retail Sales as well as building approvals are the highlights in a busy Australian week. Will the Aussie continue north? Here’s an outlook for the Australian events and an updated technical analysis for AUD/USD.

AUD/USD daily chart with support and resistance lines on it. Click to enlarge:



The Chinese move on the yuan is great for Australia, that exports commodities to China. With a stronger yuan, the Chinese can buy more. As the dust settled from  this move, the political problems in Australia hurt the Aussie. With the new Prime Minister sworn in, the focus returns to fundamentals:

1. HIA New Home Sales: Publication time unknown at the moment. The Housing Industry Association showed a bit leap in prices last month – 6.2%. This comes despite the rate hikes that partially cooled the Australian housing sector. A smaller rise is expected this time.


2. MI Inflation Gauge: Published on Tuesday at 00:30 GMT. The official inflation figures are released only once a quarter. So, this unofficial release from the Melbourne Institute tends to moves the Aussie. After rises of 0.4% or 0.5% in recent months, a weaker rise in prices is predicted this time.


3. Private Sector Credit: Published on Wednesday at 1:30 GMT. More lending means more economic activity, but last month’s small rise of 0.2% was quite disappointing for the Aussie. This followed 4 stronger months. A return to higher growth rates will probably be reported by the RBA this time.


4. AIG Manufacturing Index: Published on Wednesday at 23:30 GMT. The Australia Industry Group publishes a PMI-like indicator that has been above 50 in the past 5 months. This means expectations for economic expansion. The drop from the high 59.8 points to 56.3 last month is expected to be followed by a stable number this time.


5. Chinese Manufacturing PMI: Published on Thursday at 1:00 GMT. China is Australia’s main trade partner. Growth in Chinese manufacturing translates into more imports from Australia. After peaking at 55.7 points, this Chinese indicator fell to 53.9 points this time. A rise is expected this time.


6. Retail Sales: Published on Thursday at 1:30 GMT. This major consumer-related indicator rose by 0.6% last month, showing confidence for a second month in a row, despite the rate hikes. A smaller rise is expected this time.


7. Commodity Prices: Published on Thursday at 6:30 GMT. Australia’s commodity-oriented economy enjoyed a recovery in commodity prices in June. This will be reflected in this  indicator that is expected to show a year-over-year growth rate of over 50%, boosting the Aussie.


8. Building Approvals: Published on Friday at 1:30 GMT. This indicator is very volatile, and tends to have a strong impact on the Aussie. A drop of almost 15% was reported in approvals last month, but this was merely a correction for a 17% rise beforehand. A rise in approvals will empower the Aussie.

AUD/USD Technical Analysis

The Aussie’s crazy week began with a temporary jump above 0.8735 and then 0.88, but this changed quickly. The pair deteriorated quickly and dipped below 0.86 before recovering and settling slightly higher than last week – at 0.8741. Note that most lines haven’t changed since last week’s outlook.

Looking up, 0.88 continues to be a minor line of resistance, and the break above it was false. Higher, 0.90 is a round psychological number and also was a swing low in March.

Higher, 0.9135 was a very strong line of support when the pair was trading higher, and now works as resistance. The next important line far above is 0.9327, which was a strong line of resistance many times in the past.

Looking down, immediate support is found at 0.8735, which was December’s low, and worked as a line of resistance in the previous week. Lower, 0.8360 was a pivotal line a few weeks ago.

Lower, 0.8240 was a strong resistance line in 2009 and worked when the pair was trading lower recently. Below, the year-to-date low of 0.8066 provides strong support. That’s quite far now.

I remain bullish on the Aussie.

The political crisis that rocked the Aussie is over, with a new Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, quickly assuming office. With the revaluation of the Chinese yuan, a high interest rate and strong economy, the Australian dollar continues to have good reasons to rise.

EUR/USD Candlesticks and Ichimoku Weekly Analysis

EUR/USD Candlesticks and Ichimoku Analysis Last Candlesticks pattern / Time of formation / Trend bias Weekly             Morning star         /   01 Mar 2009     /  Sideways Daily                      Doji                 /   02 Mar 2010     /  Sideways Although the single currency fell again last week to a low of 1.3114 (almost reached our indicated downside target at 1.3110 - 61.8% projection of 1.4580 to 1.3433 measuring from 1.3819) last week, lack of follow through selling suggests minor consolidation would take place this week ahead of the release of key U.S. data and expect recovery to be limited to the Tenkan-Sen (now at 1.3467) and bring retest of said support. Break there would extend the decline from 2009 high of 1.5145 to resumed recent decline from 1.5145 (2009 high) to 1.3080 (1.618 times projection of 1.5145-1.4218 measuring from 1.4580) and possibly the psychological support at 1.3000 but reckon chart support at 1.2885 would hold from here. On the upside, a weekly close above 1.3520/30 would suggest a temporary low has possibly been formed and risk stronger rebound towards resistance at 1.3692 but a weekly close above the Ichimoku cloud bottom (now at 1.3726) is needed to confirm and bring correction to next chart point at 1.3819 and then 1.3890 (38.2% Fibonacci retracement of 1.5145-1.3114) which is likely to hold from here. On the daily chart, despite last week’s resumption of downtrend to another low of 1.3114, as euro has recovered from there partly due to profit-taking and short-covering ahead of U.S. data should bring minor correction towards the Kijun-Sen (now at 1.3403), however, the Ichimoku cloud bottom (now at 1.3542) should hold and bring another decline later. Break of said support would extend downtrend to 1.3080 (1.618 times projection of 1.5145 to 1.4218 measuring from 1.4580) and then test of psychological support at 1.3000. On the upside, only a daily close above the Ichimoku cloud bottom would be the first sign that a temporary low has been formed and bring test of resistance at 1.3692 and once this level is penetrated, this would confirm and then retracement towards next resistance at 1.3819 would follow.

Euro open 50 pips Lower...

If you can guess who is going to say what about the Greek rescue package then you know where the EUR is likely to go. Comments out of Germany regarding the aid package and the need for stringent Greek austerity measures has seen the EUR/USD open 50 pips below its NY closing level of 1.3390. We can expect further extreme volatility so caution is advised. None of the other majors have moved with USD/JPY at 94.00 and cable at 1.5375.

Good luck today.