Update May 18 – Stocks, Oil & Gold all bid

<h3>GBPUSD, H1</h3>
<p>The commodity currencies have traded firmer concomitantly with a rise in stock markets, which have posted moderate gains in Asia-Pacific markets and had a positive start in Europe, and the S&amp;P 500 futures have rallied by over 1%. This came after Fed Chairman Powell warned that the Fed is not out of ammunition, and could do more, while warning that he wouldn’t bet against the US economy neither in the short nor the long run. ECB chief economist Lane also said that the central bank can extend the PEPP programme in size and/or duration. Oil prices gained, with June WTI crude prices (on the last day before roll over to July contracts) hitting a nine-week high at <strong>$31.24</strong>, buoyed by signs of dropping supply and rising output as global economies reopen from lockdowns. On Friday, data showed the number of operating US oil and natural gas rigs to have fallen to a record low for a second consecutive week. Gold and Silver continued to gain traction, with both touching their respective R2 levels; Gold at <strong>$1765</strong> and Silver <strong>$17.32</strong>.</p>
<p><a href="https://analysis.hotforex.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/2020-05-18_12-05-49.jpg"><img class=" wp-image-132539 aligncenter" src="https://analysis.hotforex.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/2020-05-18_12-05-49-300×134.jpg" alt="" width="596" height="266" srcset="/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/2020-05-18_12-05-49-300×134.jpg 300w, /wp-content/uploads/2020/05/2020-05-18_12-05-49-1024×459.jpg 1024w, /wp-content/uploads/2020/05/2020-05-18_12-05-49-768×344.jpg 768w, /wp-content/uploads/2020/05/2020-05-18_12-05-49-1536×689.jpg 1536w, /wp-content/uploads/2020/05/2020-05-18_12-05-49-696×312.jpg 696w, /wp-content/uploads/2020/05/2020-05-18_12-05-49-1068×479.jpg 1068w, /wp-content/uploads/2020/05/2020-05-18_12-05-49-937×420.jpg 937w, /wp-content/uploads/2020/05/2020-05-18_12-05-49.jpg 1916w" sizes="(max-width: 596px) 100vw, 596px" /></a></p>
<p>In currencies, <strong>AUDUSD</strong> lifted above 0.6450 after closing on Friday at 0.6415. <strong>USDCAD</strong> ebbed to a low at 1.4063, down from Friday’s close at 1.4110, though remaining above Friday’s low at 1.4016. <strong>EURUSD</strong>, meanwhile, plied a narrow range in the lower 1.0800s, and <strong>USDJPY</strong> remained directionally immobile in the lower 107.0s. The Pound extended losses seen last week, with <strong>Cable</strong> edging out a fresh <em><span>near-eight-week-low</span></em> at 1.2076 and <strong>EURGBP</strong> lifting to a <span><em>seven-week high</em></span> at 0.8960. The latest round of trade talks finished on Friday without offering much sign of encouragement, and with the UK government repeating again that it is prepared to walk away from negotiations. This maintains the risk that the UK might at year-end leave the post-Brexit transition membership of the EU’s single market without a new trade deal in place. In data, Japan Q1 GDP numbers confirmed that the country is deep in recession, although slightly better than expected at -1.9% q/q.</p>
<p><a href="https://analysis.hotforex.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/2020-05-18_12-09-54.jpg"><img class=" wp-image-132549 aligncenter" src="https://analysis.hotforex.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/2020-05-18_12-09-54-300×138.jpg" alt="" width="594" height="273" srcset="/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/2020-05-18_12-09-54-300×138.jpg 300w, /wp-content/uploads/2020/05/2020-05-18_12-09-54-1024×471.jpg 1024w, /wp-content/uploads/2020/05/2020-05-18_12-09-54-768×353.jpg 768w, /wp-content/uploads/2020/05/2020-05-18_12-09-54-696×320.jpg 696w, /wp-content/uploads/2020/05/2020-05-18_12-09-54-1068×491.jpg 1068w, /wp-content/uploads/2020/05/2020-05-18_12-09-54-913×420.jpg 913w, /wp-content/uploads/2020/05/2020-05-18_12-09-54.jpg 1306w" sizes="(max-width: 594px) 100vw, 594px" /></a></p>
<p><strong>Click </strong><a href="https://www.hotforex.com/en/trading-tools/economic-calendar.html"><strong>here</strong></a><strong> to access the HotForex Economic Calendar</strong></p>
<p><strong>Stuart Cowell</strong></p>
<p><strong>Head Market Analyst</strong></p>
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