Good morning! It's Tuesday and today’s calendar is notably quiet, with only two key numbers from the US: existing home sales, expected just shy of 4 million, and the Richmond Manufacturing Index, expected at minus 7. From a fundamental standpoint, the major news is Joe Biden withdrawing from the presidential race and Kamala Harris stepping up. Beyond this, the market is relatively calm.
Yesterday saw a bullish day for global indexes, which climbed higher. Today, however, the European session began with a slight pullback, indicating a correction of Monday's gains. The strength of the Japanese Yen is a notable trend, with pairs involving the Yen reaching new mid-term lows. The Swiss Franc to Japanese Yen has already hit new lows, and the American Dollar to Japanese Yen and Euro to Japanese Yen are approaching similar levels. Conversely, the New Zealand Dollar and Australian Dollar continue their recent downtrend, with the AUD/USD currently experiencing its seventh consecutive bearish day.
In the commodities sector, yesterday was negative for both precious metals and oil, and the bearish momentum seems to persist today. Sellers are pushing prices lower, especially for gold, which may be on the verge of a strong sell signal. The weekly chart for gold last week ended with a bearish shooting star, and a continuation of this sentiment could confirm a negative outlook. With today’s calendar being relatively empty, technical trading is likely to have a more significant impact than fundamentals. We’ll see how the strengthening of the Yen and other technical factors influence the market.