Stan NordFX
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Forex and Cryptocurrency Forecast for May 31 - June 04, 2021
First, a review of last week’s events:
- EUR/USD. If you look at the chart of this pair on D1, it is safe to talk about the uptrend in the last eight weeks. But if you switch to lower timeframes, H4 or H1, it becomes clear that it has been in the "sideways" for the last two weeks, being squeezed in the range1.2125-1.2265. The last chord of the five-day period sounded in the area of the Pivot Point of this channel as well, at the level of 1.2194, without giving any guidance for the future.
The macro statistics of the past week looks diversified, and therefore hasn't managed to become a driver for the movement of the pair either to the north or to the south. The number of applications for unemployment benefits in the United States continues to decline, but the indicator of pending sales in the real estate market is falling. Orders for capital goods (excluding defense and aviation) have risen, while orders for durable goods have fallen. And the annual data on US GDP (Q1) has remained at the same level. So investors don't know what to do.
Last spring, when the Fed flooded the market with cheap money, its policy was perfectly understandable: to pull the economy out of the crisis and support the purchasing power of the population. A year has passed, the recession is over, stock indices are mushrooming, unemployment is declining, inflation is gaining momentum. But the Fed continues to insist that the set targets have not yet been achieved and therefore it is too early to wind down the fiscal stimulus (QE) programs. So what should investors do with their spare money?
Some of these funds have gone to the long-overbought stock market, bringing the S&P500 back above 4200 and the Dow Jones above 3450. And another part, $485.3 billion, sits idle on central bank accounts at zero interest rates. And it should be noted that due to QE programs, this happens not only in the United States, but also in other countries, including Europe. As a result, a huge amount of both dollars and European and other currencies have settled in hands of not only American, but also foreign investors. And the market plunged into doubts, which is clearly visible on the EUR/USD chart;
- GBP/USD. The dynamics of GBP/USD is influenced by the same factors as the previous pair. And just like the euro, the British currency paired with the dollar has been in a sideways trend for two weeks, fluctuating within the range of 1.4075-1.4220. However, unlike the European currency, the activity of the bulls on the pound was significantly higher. This was facilitated by expectations of a faster than forecast increase in interest rates by the Bank of England.
One of the managers of the Bank of England, Gertjan Vlieghe, announced on Thursday, May 27 that rates could rise in the first half of 2022. At the same time, the official stipulated that this would happen only if the labor market recovers faster than expected.
Investors' optimism was added by the comment of Prime Minister Boris Johnson that the latest statistics on COVID-19 does not require adjusting plans to lift quarantine restrictions on June 21. After both of these statements, the pair approached the 36-month high again, where, at 1.4188, it completed the trading session;
- USD/JPY. Only 25% of experts voted for the growth of the dollar in this pair in the past forecast. But in the battle between bulls and bears, they were strongly supported by the growth in the yield of the 10-year US Treasury bonds, which rose from 1.57% to 1.62% on Thursday June 27. Given that the yen is a safe haven currency, such changes always put strong pressure on it, especially when you consider that the yield on 10-year Japanese bonds is only 0.25%.
The yen was also pressured by fears of a delay in Japan's economic recovery. They were caused by media reports that the country's authorities plan to extend the state of emergency in Tokyo and some other regions for three weeks, until June 20. Additional support to the dollar was provided by the US budget proposed by the administration of President Joe Biden in the amount of $6 trillion.
As a result, the USD/JPY pair broke out of the range 108.55-109.75 and, having gone up, reached the height of 110.20, updating the high of the last seven weeks. As for the week's finish, it was slightly lower: at the level of 109.83;
- cryptocurrencies. You can currently find a lot of similarities with the beginning of the crypto winter in 2014 and 2018. However, there are also many differences. Therefore, it is not worth yet to firmly assert that we are now witnessing the entry into winter 2021. Rather, the past month can be called late autumn, after which, bypassing winter, spring can start straight away.
The market is under pressure of the ongoing struggle against mining and trading in virtual currencies in China. For example, the 8 paragraphs of the document published by the Inner Mongolia Reform and Development Commission can help understand how this is happening. (According to the University of Cambridge, this region is China's third in terms of computing capacity of bitcoin).
So, Industrial parks and data centers are ordered to reduce energy consumption, and telecommunications companies are prohibited from working with miners under the threat of license revocation. The authorities also promise to prosecute illegal miners. The same applies to money laundering attempts and illegal fundraising using cryptocurrencies. In addition, the list mentions Internet cafes that will be closed if mining on their territory is revealed. Companies whose activities are related to cryptocurrencies mining, and their senior employees are subject to inclusion in the list of unreliable persons, and officials supporting the miners will be subject to disciplinary responsibility.
According to Reuters, the major mining companies BTC.TOP and HashCow are winding down their operations in China amid such tightening legislation. HashCow has not yet stopped the current capacity but has refused to buy new farms.
As for BTC.TOP, this company announced a complete cessation of work in the PRC.
On the other hand, there is good news as well. Elon Musk, because of whom the market experienced two serious falls in May, has now helped it grow again. A number of North American mining companies had a meeting with him,
which was organized by the head of MicroStrategy Michael Saylor and decided to form the Bitcoin Mining Council, which aims to reduce the industry's greenhouse gas emissions.
One of the first bitcoin miners, Marshal Long, criticized the move, saying that Musk was talking to the wrong companies because they control "a very, very small network hashrate." According to Long, if the billionaire wants to change the situation, he should negotiate with Coinmint and members of the non-profit Texas Blockchain Association, which control about 15% of the hashrate.
However, be that as it may, but the decision to create the Bitcoin Mining Council gave its positive result: according to the CoinGecko service, the crypto market capitalization increased by about 14%, and bitcoin rose in price by almost 12% against its background. The BTC/USD pair was trading at $40.865 at the high of the week, on May 26. It did not manage to overcome the $41,000 mark and dropped to the $35,000 area by the end of Friday once again.
The Crypto Fear & Greed Index fell to its 12-month low on May 24 at just 10 points, which is in line with the “Extreme Fear” of the market. However, along with the decline in the index, the likelihood of new purchases from investors expecting a large discount is growing as well. That was what happened this time as well. Bouncing off the bottom, the quotes went up. The indicator is in the "Fear" zone at around 21 points on Friday afternoon, May 28. So, the potential for further growth of the main cryptocurrency has not yet been exhausted.
The total crypto market capitalization peaked on May 12, reaching $2.560 trillion. But then a collapse followed, and the market had lost more than 40% by the time of writing this review, on May 28, shrinking to $1.529 trillion. About 1 million leveraged transactions were liquidated during this short period.
The lowest value in May for the bitcoin dominance index was 39.22%. It is slightly higher now at 43.11%. And it is possible that growth will continue further, thanks to the sale of less stable altcoins.
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