The American dollar closed the week generally lower against its major rivals

EUR/USD

The American dollar closed the week generally lower against its major rivals, with the EUR/USD pair settling at 1.1328, its highest close since the Brexit, and after being as high as 1.1366. The split stance of FED's officers was behind the decline, joining forces with dismal macroeconomic data released during the last few weeks. Minutes from the ECB, also released last week, suggested that   policy makers are willing to extend the current  80bn per month bond buying program, but the news failed to weaken the common currency.  

Among the main market's drivers was crude oil, surging for the most weekly basis, in over three months, on renewed speculation that worldwide producers will discuss taking action on how to deal with the global glut. For these upcoming days, attention will center in the US annual Jackson Hole Economic Policy Symposium, where Fed Chair Janet Yellen is due to speak. The market will be looking for more clues on rate hikes there. 

In the meantime, the EUR/USD looks bullish in the nearer term, given that in the daily chart, the price has broken and then accelerated above it 100 DMA for the first time since the Brexit, whilst in the same chart, the Momentum indicator presents a strong upward tone, whilst the RSI indicator consolidates near overbought levels. The ability of the pair to run much further, however, seems limited due to the persistent imbalance between Central Banks' economic policies. Still, there's room for a run up to 1.1460, a level that contained rallies since early 2015. Shorter term, the 4 hours chart shows that technical indicators have corrected from overbought territory before turning flat within positive territory, whilst the price holds above a bullish 20 SMA, now around 1.1300, supporting a recovery, as long as the level keeps attracting buyers. 

Support levels: 1.1300 1.1265 1.1230 

Resistance levels: 1.1360 1.1400 1.1460

USD/JPY

The USD/JPY pair fell down to 99.52, its lowest in over a month, after breaking below a major Fibonacci level, the 50% retracement of the yearly rally between 2011 and 2015, around 100.65. The pair, however, is having it hard to clearly breach the major psychological  100.00 level, but given that so far bounces from the region have been quite shallow, the chance of a steeper decline is still high. During the weekend, BOJ's Governor Kuroda, in an interview with a local newspaper, said that the Bank of Japan will not rule out cutting rates ever further into negative territory, comments that may trigger some yen's weakness at the weekly opening, but that are hardly enough to prevent the pair from falling further. From a technical point of view, the daily chart shows that the price keeps developing well below its moving averages, while the Momentum indicator heads modestly lower below its 100 level and the RSI indicator consolidates around 34, reflecting the limited volume seen at the end of last week, rather than suggesting the downside is exhausted. In the 4 hours chart, technical indicators present a neutral-to-bearish stance, as the price is developing below a strongly bearish 100 SMA, currently around 101.40, whilst the technical indicators head nowhere, but remain within negative territory. 

Support levels: 99.90 99.55 99.10

Resistance levels: 100.30 100.65 101.00 

GBP/USD

The Sterling Pound staged a nice comeback during these last few days, fueled by positive macroeconomic surprises that suggested that the Brexit decision's impact over the economy, has not been as tough as initially estimated. The UK currency turned modestly bullish after inflation, retail sales, and employment figures all beat expectations.  The GBP/USD pair surged intraweek up to 1.3184, shedding some 100 pips on Friday on the back of profit taking ahead of the weekend. The weekly recovery was not enough to revert the dominant bearish trend, but helped putting  the price back above the 1.3000 level, suggesting that the risk of a larger extension below the level is limited at this point. Technically, however, the daily chart shows that the price is a few pips below a mild bearish 20 SMA, whilst the technical indicators were rejected from around their mid-lines, and head south within negative territory. In the 4 hours chart, the price is now around its 20 SMA that maintains a bullish slope, while indicators are flat within neutral territory, after correcting the extreme overbought readings reached earlier in the week. 

Support levels: 1.3050 1.3010 1.2980

Resistance levels: 1.3125 1.3160 1.3190

AUD/USD

The AUD/USD pair fell down to 0.7601 last Friday, finally settling at 0.7626, down weekly basis. The pair struggled to hold gains beyond the 0.7700 level, but Aussie bulls finally gave up, undermined by Moody's ratings agency decision to lower its outlook on Australian banks to negative, citing weak growth and low interest rates. The poor performance around worldwide stocks, also weighed on the AUD. The slide in the pair was limited by two factors, dollar's self-weakness, and the strong recovery in crude oil. Daily basis, the pair is at risk of easing further, particularly on a break below 0.7600, which stands for the 23.6% retracement of its yearly bullish run, as the price is hovering around its 20 SMA, while the technical indicators present bearish slopes, barely holding above their mid-lines. In the 4 hours chart, the 20 SMA is gaining bearish momentum above the current level, whilst the technical indicators are horizontal below their mid-lines, also suggesting the pair can extend its slide during the upcoming sessions.

Support levels: 0.7600 0.7570 0.7540

Resistance levels: 0.7660 0.7700 0.7635

Dow Jones

US indexes closed marginally lower on Friday, with the DJIA down by 0.24% or 45 points to end at 18,552.57, while the Nasdaq Composite and the S&P closed 0.03% and 0.14% lower respectively. The modest step back was triggered by FED's Williams, who put back in the table a sooner-than-expected rate hike in the US. The Dow Jones has spent most of this past week consolidating near record highs and the daily chart shows that daily candles have small bodies and long downward wicks, indicating that investors are still willing to bet on an upward extension. Technical readings in the mentioned time frame maintain a  neutral stance, with the 20 DMA flat around 18,505, which also stands for the 38.2% retracement of the latest bullish run, and technical indicators holding around their mid-lines, with no clear directional strength. In the 4 hours chart, movements have been quite erratic around the 23.6% retracement of the same rally, a few points above the current level, while the 20 SMA heads modestly lower around the current level and indicators hovering around their mid-lines, reflecting the ongoing lack of directional strength. 

Support levels: 18,505 18,451 18,392

Resistance levels: 18,603 18,640 18,675

FTSE 100

The FTSE 100 lost 10 points in the last trading day of the week to end at 6,858.95, weighed by the negative tone of European equities. Lloyds Banking Group was the biggest winner, up 2.54%, followed by EasyJet that added 2.5% on speculation that the airline could be a target for US leasing company AerCap. Glencore on the other hand, led losers, down by  3.90% as base metals erased their latest gains and closed sharply lower.  Daily basis, the index is holding above its 20 DMA, now around 6,800, while the Momentum indicator remains flat above its 100 level and the RSI indicator retreats from overbought territory, now around 63, not enough to confirm a bearish extension. In the 4 hours chart, there's a modestly bearish tone, with indicators below their mid-lines and the index below a horizontal 20 SMA, now around 6,893. 

Support levels: 6,831 6,800 6,782 

Resistance levels: 6,893 6,925 6,960 

DAX

The German DAX fell 58 points to end the week at 10,544.36, with all major European indexes closing the week with a negative tone. The benchmark recovered to erase all of its yearly losses at the beginning of the week, but was unable to hold on to the upward momentum, with the market now giving signs of hesitation towards extending into fresh highs.  The daily chart shows that, despite the index has been under selling pressure for most of the week, it managed to  bounced off its daily lows last Friday, and that the 20 DMA maintains a strong bullish slope well below the current level, while the technical indicators have corrected overbought readings, but are now consolidating within bullish territory. In the 4 hours chart, the 20 SMA heads lower around 10,631, providing a strong dynamic resistance, whilst technical indicators head modestly higher below their mid-lines, limiting the risk of a steeper bearish move, but maintaining the risk towards the downside anyway. 

Support levels: 10,491 10,444 10,401

Resistance levels: 10,582 10,631 10,697 

Nikkei

Gold

Gold prices ended closed last week marginally higher, with spot around $1,340.92 a troy ounce, having trimmed most of its weekly gains on Friday, undermined by FED's John Williams, who said late Thursday that would be logical to raise rates "sooner rather than later."  Despite FOMC Minutes released earlier in the week showed a split between policymakers, regarding the appropriate timing of a move, gold prices are quite sensitive to such comments. Nevertheless, investors are beginning to doubt over the ability of the commodity to run higher, as it failed to advance in spite of broad dollar's weakness seen last week. From a technical perspective, the commodity continues in consolidation mode,  holding above 1,333.50, the 23.6% retracement of its May/July rally, but the daily chart shows that the bearish potential increases, as technical indicators have entered bearish territory, with modest bearish slopes at this point. Shorter term, and according to the 4 hours chart, the price is now below its moving averages that anyway lack clear directional strength, whilst the technical indicators head south within bearish territory, in line with the longer term outlook. 

Support levels: 1,333.50 1,320.251,310.80

Resistance levels: 1,345.20 1,358.05 1,367.20 

WTI Crude Oil

Crude oil prices staged an impressive recovery for  second consecutive week, with West Texas Intermediate crude futures closing the week not far from $50.00 a barrel, its highest since early July, and up roughly 25% after flirting with 39.00 early August. Despite the fundamental background has shown a modest improvement, with US crude and gasoline stockpiles decreasing in the previous week,  it was speculation on an upcoming output freeze what fueled the advance.  Saudi Arabia and other OPEC members will have an informal meeting with non-OPEC producer countries by the end of September, to discuss the market's situation. On Friday, the commodity surged up to $49.53 a barrel, despite the Baker Hughes report showed that the number of rigs operating in US fields rose for an eighth consecutive week, increasing by 10 to a total of 406. Daily basis, WTI has moved from oversold to overbought, but indicators are barely retreating whilst the price is well above its moving averages, limiting the downward potential for the upcoming sessions. In the 4 hours chart, the RSI indicator heads north around 75, while the price is well above a bullish 20 SMA, and the Momentum indicator consolidates within positive territory, in line with further gains on an extension above the mentioned high.

Support levels: 48.40 47.70 47.25 

Resistance levels: 49.50 50.10 50.65