EUR/USD retreats from one-month high, still well bid above 1.0600
The EUR/USD pair trimmed some of its strong gains to one-month high and has now retreated back below mid-1.0600s.Currently hovering around 50-day SMA, near 1.0640-45 region, hawkish comments from Philadelphia Fed President Patrick Harker, reinforcing prospects of three Fed rate-hikes in 2017, added fuel to mild greenback recovery led by slightly better-than-expected weekly jobless claims data. However, it remains to be seen whether Wednesday's disappointment from Trump's press conference has been digested by the market or the latest leg of bounce witnessed in the key US Dollar Index, from 4-week lows, is on the back of some short-covering.Next in focus would be the Fed Chair Janet Yellen's appearance, where nothing related to monetary policy is expected to emerge, but would still grab market attention. A follow through retracement below 1.0620 region, previous strong resistance now turned immediate support, could drag the pair back below 1.0600 handle towards testing its next support near 1.0575 level. On the flip side, momentum back above 1.0670-75 region now seems to accelerate the move beyond 1.0700 handle, towards testing an important horizontal resistance near 1.0760-65 region.

GBP/USD struggling to sustain moves beyond 1.2300 handle
The GBP/USD pair once again ran through some fresh offers near 1.2300 handle and has now retreated to 1.2275-70 region.The US Dollar selling pressure seems to have stalled following the release of better-than-expected weekly jobless claims data that showed initial claims for the week ended Jan. 6 rose less-than-expected to 247K as against consensus estimates of 255K and previous week's 237K (revised higher from 235K previously reported). Adding to this, hawkish comments from Philadelphia Fed President Patrick Harker supporting expectations of three Fed rate-hikes in 2017 further collaborated towards restricting further greenback downslide. The pair, however, held on to marginal daily gains in wake of St. Louis Fed President James Bullard's (non-voter) forecast for only one Fed rate-hike in year. Moreover, fading optimism over stronger US economic growth under the incoming Trump administration, following Wednesday's disappointment Donald Trump's first news conference as President-elect, continued weighing on the greenback and is helping to the pair to hold closer to weekly highs. Immediate downside support is seen near 1.2240 level below which the pair is likely to drift back to 1.2200 handle, en-route its next support near 1.2155-50 region. On the upside, 1.2300-1.2310 area remains immediate strong hurdle, which if conquered could trigger a fresh bout of short-covering and might lift the pair beyond 1.2400 round figure mark, towards testing 50-day SMA strong resistance near 1.2425-30 region.

USD/JPY holds above 114.00 mark after unemployment claims
The USD/JPY pair remained well offered for the fourth consecutive session, albeit has managed to hold its neck above 114.00 handle after being slammed to a 5-week low earlier during the day.Data released just a while ago showed weekly jobless claims for the week ended Jan. 6 rose to 247K from previous week's 235K. Expectations were pointing to a rise to 255K and hence, seems to have provided some immediate respite to the bulls.Meanwhile, comments from St. Louis Fed President James Bullard that there's no reason to dramatically move rates now and we can afford to be patient with inflation below goal, failed to reinforce market expectation of faster Fed rate-hike action and failed to contribute towards any additional recovery. Moreover, the US Dollar slump, driven by plummeting US treasury bond yields in wake of disappointment from President-elect Donald Trump's first formal news conference, extended through early NA session on Thursday and collaborated to the pair's slide to the lowest level since December 8.Treasury bond yields would now continue driving the pair as investors now look forward to gain some fresh insight on the central bank's monetary policy outlook for 2017 from comments from various Fed officials, which includes - Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank President Patrick Harker, Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart and Fed Chair Janet Yellen. "The bearish price RSI divergence on the daily chart, followed by a repeated failure to hold above 116.04 (double top neckline) coupled with the bearish break in the daily RSI below 50.00 suggests the spot could breach 114.55 (23.6% fib of 101.19-118.66) levels and slide to 50-DMA level of 113.00"He further writes, "On the higher side, only a daily close back above 116.04 would signal bullish invalidation."

AUD/USD: finding territory on the 0.75 handle while DXY drops below 101 handle
Currently, AUD/USD is trading at 0.7504, up 0.78% on the day, having posted a daily high at 0.7520 and low at 0.7430.AUD/USD has made fresh territory on the 0.75 handle in a continuation of the sell-off in the greenback while the DXY breaks below the 101 handle to daily lows. The US dollar is being unwound after last year's hysteria over Trump and the Fed.Analysts at Brown Brothers Harriman suggested that the main consideration appears to be the further unwinding of positions as no more details of the new administration's policies were provided. "The Dollar Index fell it its lowest level since December 14, the day the Fed hiked rates. The US 10-year bond yield reached almost 2.3% today. That is the lowest yield since November 30. The two-year yield has slipped to 1.14%, its lowest level in about a month.With spot trading at 0.7505, we can see next resistance ahead at 0.7520 (Daily High), 0.7545 (Daily Classic R2), 0.7579 (Weekly Classic R3), 0.7616 (Daily Classic R3) and 0.7813 (Annual High). Support below can be found at 0.7503 (Daily 100 SMA), 0.7501 (Daily 200 SMA), 0.7498 (Monthly High), 0.7495 (Daily Classic R1) and 0.7476 (Hourly 20 EMA).

WTI regains $53.00 and beyond
Crude oil prices are extending the rebound from recent lows, lifting the West Texas Intermediate to the mid-$53.00s per barrel, or daily tops.Prices for crude oil are edging higher on Thursday after Russia, among another oil-producer countries, said it started to cut oil production, in line with the recently clinched OPEC agreement.Additionally, the softer tone in the greenback is sustaining the up move in crude oil prices, which are so far gaining more than $3 since recent lows near $50.70 seen on Tuesday and Wednesday.Traders have quickly left behind the recent build in US crude stockpiles as reported by the API and the EIA, focusing instead on the developments surrounding the OPEC-non OPEC deal in order to stabilize the oil market. At the moment the barrel of WTI is gaining 2.16% at $53.38 with the next hurdle at $54.32 (high Jan.6) followed by $54.51 (high Dec.12) and finally $55.24 (2017 high Jan.3). On the other hand, a break below $50.71 (low Jan.10) would expose $49.95 (low Dec.15) and then $49.62 (55-day sma).

 


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