Hi folks,

Lukman is in the building!

It’s been another eventful week for financial markets with action across currency, commodity and stock markets.

Before we proceed, I know some of you are wondering what is going on here. Well, I have hijacked the Thursday 101 slot to share my thoughts and personal experiences with markets this week!

While this may not follow the normal style of our market reports, we still aim to provide key insight and information on market themes complemented with some trading setups to watch out for.

Game plan #1 – USD hunting gone wrong 

I marched into the trading week heavily equipped with the fundamental knowledge and technical weapons to hunt dollar bulls. With signs of easing inflationary pressures in the United States fuelling speculation around the Fed adopting a less aggressive approach towards rates, the dollar looked like an easy tasty meal. However, the greenback drew ample strength from weak Chinese economic data on Monday – eventually trampling all obstacles and G10 currencies in its path.

The bearish dollar setup I had in mind was blown out of the water. Instead of the Dollar Index (DXY) respecting the daily bearish channel, prices pushed above 106.00, signalling an incline back towards 107.30.

The same could be said for the equally-weighted dollar index which blasted back above 1.1700. Prices seem to be finding resistance around the 50-day SMA. It will be interesting to see whether this level limits further upside gains.

Game plan # 2 – If you can’t beat them…join them

After witnessing the dollar’s rebound on Monday, I decided to hitch a ride with bulls on Tuesday.

The EURUSD snatched my attention as prices tumbled back below 1.0200. Even though the currency pair remains in a range, the path of least resistance points south with 1.0100 acting as the first level of interest. Looking at the current price action, we are not expecting any fireworks for the rest of the week. But bears seem to be creating a foundation for a steeper decline in the week ahead.

Game plan #3 – Inflation heartache boost BoE hike bets

On Wednesday morning I felt nauseous and uneasy after official data revealed that UK inflation rose 10.1% in July. As the inflation menace causes havoc across the UK economy, households are feeling the squeeze. Everything from the price of food, energy, and services is increasing dangerously. Yesterday evening I witnessed a man argue with a shop owner over the price of bread and this morning I found myself in a heated conversation with my energy provider.

Rising inflation will most likely force the BoE to aggressively raise interest rates but will also fuel uncertainty over the UK’s economic outlook. Looking at the GBPUSD, it remains in a range on the daily chart with support at 1.2000. Best to revisit this next week when more life returns to the FX space.

Game plan #4 – Riding the volatile Yen wave

Hats off to my intraday traders that were able to tame the Yen beast this week.

The EURJPY and GBPJPY were untamed and ready to dish out punishment to any trader unprepared. Both tumbled on Monday, only to experience a sharp rebound on Tuesday and Wednesday! We can see some resistance around 138.00 for the EURJPY and 164.00 for the GBPJPY. Should these levels hold, the currency pairs could resume their descent in the new trading week.

Game plan #5 – Classic breakdown on gold

The last time gold secured a daily close below $1770 was at the start of the month. After flirting within a range for almost three weeks, it looks like the precious metal is ready to move lower. Interestingly, the precious metal somewhat ignored the minutes from the Fed’s July meeting. Policymakers saw inflation as a significant risk to the economy and indicated they would not pull back on rates until inflation came down. With inflation in the United States cooling to 8.5% in July, traders have cut bets over how aggressive the Fed will be on rates. In fact, markets are currently pricing in a 47% probability of a 75bp rate hike in September.

Talking technicals sustained weakness below $1770 could open the doors towards $1752 and $1724, respectfully.