Week Ahead: Can EURUSD’s uptrend stay intact?

<p><strong>By <a href="http://investmacro.com/contributors/contributor-profile-forextime/">ForexTime</a></strong></p>
<p><span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US">Firstly, please note that this Week Ahead preview is being written <em>before</em> Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s highly-anticipated speech out of the <a href="https://www.forextime.com/market-analysis/trade-week-spx500m-demands-proof-out-nvidia-jackson-hole">Jackson Hole Economic symposium</a> due later today (Friday, August 25th).</span></p>
<p><span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US">Still, the astute trader and investor will already be casting a glance at what’s in store post-Jackson Hole.</span></p>
<h2><span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US">The monthly US jobs report, typically released on the first Friday of every month, is set to hog the limelight next week.</span></h2>
<p><span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US">This tier-1 data out of the world’s largest economy will arrive at the tail end of a week that also features these other major economic data releases and events: </span></p>
<p><strong><span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US">Monday, August 28</span></strong></p>
<ul>
<li>AUD: Australia July retail sales</li>
<li>USD: US August manufacturing activity</li>
<li>UK markets closed</li>
</ul>
<p><strong><span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US">Tuesday, August 29</span></strong></p>
<ul>
<li>JPY: Japan July unemployment</li>
<li>USD: US August consumer confidence</li>
</ul>
<p><strong><span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US">Wednesday, August 30</span></strong></p>
<ul>
<li>AUD: Australia July CPI</li>
<li><strong>EUR: Germany August CPI</strong>; Eurozone August economic confidence</li>
<li>USD: US 2Q GDP (2nd estimate)</li>
</ul>
<p><strong><span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US">Thursday, August 31</span></strong></p>
<ul>
<li>JPY: Japan July retail sales, industrial production</li>
<li>CNH: China August manufacturing, non-manufacturing PMIs</li>
<li><strong>EUR: Eurozone August CPI</strong>; <strong>July unemployment rate; </strong>ECB meeting minutes</li>
<li>USD: US weekly initial jobless claims; July PCE deflator, personal income and spending</li>
</ul>
<p><strong><span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US">Friday, September 1</span></strong></p>
<ul>
<li>CNH: China Caixin August manufacturing PMI</li>
<li>EUR: Eurozone August manufacturing PMI (final)</li>
<li>GBP: UK August manufacturing PMI (final)</li>
<li>CAD: Canada 2Q GDP</li>
<li><strong>USD: US August nonfarm payrolls</strong></li>
<li>USD: US August ISM manufacturing</li>
</ul>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3><strong><span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US">EURUSD traders will be keen to find out how the official prints for the following data releases will match up with current market <em>forecasts </em>as stated below:</span></strong></h3>
<p><strong>1) Wednesday, Aug 30: Germany August consumer price index (CPI)</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>Year-on-year CPI (August 2023 vs. August 2022):<strong> 6%</strong></li>
<li>Month-on-month CPI (August 2023 vs. July 2023): <strong>0.2%</strong></li>
</ul>
<p><em>If so, both prints would mark a slight easing from July’s CPI figures.</em></p>
<h5><em>Note that Germany is the largest economy in the Eurozone, and its CPI prints tend to front-run the broader Eurozone’s CPI release.</em></h5>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong>2) Thursday, Aug 31: Eurozone August CPI</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>Year-on-year CPI:<strong> 5%</strong></li>
<li>Month-on-month CPI (August 2023 vs. July 2023): <strong>0.3%</strong></li>
<li>Year-on-year core CPI (excluding food and energy prices): <strong>5.3%</strong></li>
</ul>
<p><em><span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US">While such numbers would mark a moderating in inflation, 5% CPI is still noticeably higher than the European Central Bank’s (ECB) 2% target, which could warrant more rate hikes.</span></em></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong>3) Thursday, Aug 31:</strong> <strong>Eurozone July unemployment rate </strong>(forecast = <strong>6.4%</strong>)</p>
<p><em>If so, this would match the unemployment rate in June.</em></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3><strong><span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US">Still, ECB policymakers will only be too aware of the deteriorating economy.</span></strong></h3>
<p><span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US">The Eurozone’s manufacturing and services sectors each posted sub-50 PMI readings this past Wednesday (August 23rd). </span></p>
<p><span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US">When the PMI number is below 50, that means the sector is experiencing <strong>contracting conditions.</strong></span></p>
<p><span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US">Such concerning figures prompted markets to <strong>pare down</strong> their expectations for another <strong>25-basis point hike by the ECB before 2023 is over.</strong></span></p>
<blockquote><p><em><span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US">Those odds have been slashed from <strong>78%</strong> this time last week, now down to a 57%.</span></em></p></blockquote>
<p><span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US">Hence, the <strong>ECB meeting minutes due to be released on August 31 may already be dated</strong>, seeing as that July meeting was held prior to releases of the above-listed economic data.</span></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3><strong><span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US">Then, on the USD side of the equation …</span></strong></h3>
<blockquote>
<h4><em><span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US">Markets will want to know if the US labour market remains resilient, as evidenced by the highly-anticipated US jobs report, despite the Fed’s aggressive rate hikes since 2022.</span></em></h4>
</blockquote>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong>4) Friday, Sept 1:</strong> <strong>US August jobs report</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>Change in nonfarm payrolls: <strong>+168,000</strong></li>
</ul>
<p><em>If so, that would be the fewest number of new jobs added in a month since December 2019.</em></p>
<ul>
<li>Unemployment rate:<strong> 3.5%</strong></li>
</ul>
<p><em>If so, this would match July’s unemployment rate.</em></p>
<ul>
<li>Average hourly earnings:<strong> 4.3%</strong> year-on-year and <strong>0.3%</strong> month-on-month</li>
</ul>
<p><em>If so, that would be a slick tick down of 10 basis points respectively from July’s figures.</em></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US">Markets currently place a <strong>55% chance</strong> that the <strong>Fed </strong>will trigger a <strong>25-basis point hike in November</strong>, after pausing at its September policy meeting.</span></p>
<blockquote>
<h4><em><span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US">Of course, Chair Powell’s commentary out of Jackson Hole could significantly alter that perception.</span></em></h4>
</blockquote>
<p><span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US">Still, with the Fed already pledging to remain “data dependent”, a set of <strong>better-than-expected jobs data </strong>on September 1st could embolden the FOMC hawks (voting officials at the Federal Reserve who want to hike US rates further), and <strong>boost the US dollar</strong> along the way.</span></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3><strong><span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US">POTENTIAL SCENARIOS:</span></strong></h3>
<p><span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US">Ultimately, markets are set to reward the currency of the economy that can better handle another rate hike from its central bank.</span></p>
<ul>
<li>
<h4><strong>EURUSD could move higher</strong> if the Eurozone’s CPI comes in higher than expected, while the US jobs market appears to be waning.</h4>
</li>
<li>
<h4><strong>EURUSD could move lower</strong> on the stronger US dollar if the Eurozone’s CPI comes in lower than expected, and/or a higher-than-expected unemployment rate, along with a US jobs market that’s still resilient.</h4>
</li>
</ul>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3><strong><span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US">From a technical perspective …</span></strong></h3>
<p><span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US">To be fair, EURUSD is still adhering to a uptrend, maintaining a series of higher highs and higher lows so far this year.</span></p>
<blockquote>
<h4><em><span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US">However, EURUSD is now caught up in its <strong>3rd “correction” wave</strong> on the daily timeframe so far this year.</span></em></h4>
</blockquote>
<p><span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US">Each wave has marked a <strong>decline of over 4%</strong>, with the latest declines commencing from its July 18th intraday peak extending past 4.4% at the time of writing.</span></p>
<p><img decoding="async" fetchpriority="high" class=" lazyloaded" src="https://www.forextime.com/s3-static/users/user16/EURUSDDaily_22.png" alt="" width="1024" height="768" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="91d23fd5-9803-439a-ba5e-2518c8a35c2a" data-src="/s3-static/users/user16/EURUSDDaily_22.png" /></p>
<p><span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US">And there are other bearish signs in play currently for EURUSD:</span></p>
<ul>
<li>now trading <strong>below </strong>the widely-watched <strong>200-day simple moving average</strong> (SMA) for the first time since end-November 2022.</li>
<li>21-day SMA has crossed below its longer-term 100-day counterpart.</li>
</ul>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<blockquote>
<h3><em><span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US">Currently, Bloomberg’s FX model points to a 73% chance that EURUSD will trade within the 1.0661 – 1.0920 range over the next one week </span></em></h3>
<p><em><span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US">(forecast is prior to Fed Chair Powell’s Jackson Hole speech)</span></em></p></blockquote>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h4><span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US">Here are some <strong>key levels</strong> to look out for:</span></h4>
<p><strong><span lang="EN-GB" xml:lang="EN-GB">POTENTIAL SUPPORT</span></strong></p>
<ul>
<li><strong>1.0766: </strong>lower trendline of uptrend/mid-March peaks</li>
<li><strong>1.068 region: </strong>resistance turn support zone since December</li>
<li><strong>1.0661 – 1.06352:</strong> lower bound of Bloomberg model forecasted range / end-May cycle low</li>
</ul>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong><span lang="EN-GB" xml:lang="EN-GB">POTENTIAL RESISTANCE</span></strong></p>
<ul>
<li><strong>200-day SMA</strong></li>
<li><strong>1.08353/37:</strong> lows in end-June/early July</li>
<li><strong>1.0920:</strong> upper bound of Bloomberg model forecasted range, also with 100-day and 21-day SMAs lurking nearby</li>
</ul>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3><strong><span lang="EN-GB" xml:lang="EN-GB">Brace for technical rebound?</span></strong></h3>
<p><span lang="EN-GB" xml:lang="EN-GB">The 14-day relative strength index (RSI) for the world’s most-traded FX pair is now flirting with the 30 mark, which denotes <strong>oversold levels.</strong></span></p>
<blockquote><p><em><span lang="EN-GB" xml:lang="EN-GB">Note that the <strong>bottom of the prior 2 “correction” waves</strong> have also coincided with such levels for the RSI.</span></em></p></blockquote>
<p><span lang="EN-GB" xml:lang="EN-GB">Of course, fundamental factors surrounding the ECB vs. Fed’s next policy moves would greatly dictate whether EURUSD’s uptrend will be upended as we head into September.</span></p>
<p><span lang="EN-GB" xml:lang="EN-GB">Still, a technical rebound may be on the cards over the near term to perhaps offer some relief for euro bulls.</span></p>
<hr />
<p><img decoding="async" class="size-full wp-image-54242 alignleft" src="https://www.investmacro.com/articles-analysis/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Forex-Time-Logo.png" alt="Forex-Time-Logo" width="262" height="90" /><strong>Article by <span><a href="https://www.investmacro.com/contributors/contributor-profile-forextime/">ForexTime</a></span></strong></p>
<p><strong>ForexTime Ltd (FXTM)</strong> is an award winning international online forex broker regulated by CySEC 185/12 <a href="http://www.forextime.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">www.forextime.com</a></p>

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