Binary Options Weekly Outlook: January 19 – January 23

January 19, 2015 – Weekly News

WEEKLY REPORT 19/1-23/1

EUR/USD

Last week the EUR/USD pair started in a sideways movement and it seemed that the pair would struggle to break the support at 1.17. However, quite surprisingly the negative stimulus came not from Euro-zone but from Switzerland when the national bank decided to cancel the minimal exchange rate of EUR/CHF, which was valid from 2011. Immediately as they introduced these changes, the Euro drastically depreciated and the pair dropped as far as 1.1560. Despite negative data from U.S. market, the EUR/USD pair has remained under pressure and by the end of the week touched new 11-year lows. The pair may continue downwards before this week main event – the European Central Bank press conference where is widely expected that ECB will increase monetary stimulus.  Some analyst predict that the price can go as low as 1.10. Except of this event, pay attention to Tuesday’s EU ZEW German Economic Sentiment and to Friday’s European Flash Manufacturing and Services PMI.

GBP/USD

The GBP/USD pair was moving in a sideways movement during the last week. The actual channel where the price ranged can be considered wide – from 1.5075 to 1.5270. The pair was mainly driven by the U.S. Dollar which depreciated in the first half of the week as the disappointing U.S. data cut the demand for the Greenback, however in the second half the demand increased as the other currencies struggled. This week we expect the pair to continue sideways within the wide channel. British pound might appreciated as it is the only stable and well-trusted currency in Europe but the Dollar might appreciated as well. We should see some higher volatility on Wednesday when the U.K. labour data comes out. On Friday, keep an eye on the U.K. Retail Sales data.

GOLD

The price of gold has been increasing since the year started and already added more than 8%! The price climbed last week from $1,220/ounce to $1,280/ounce. The reason behind this jump came from Europe. Firstly, it was the decision of Swiss National Bank to erase their cap on the Swiss franc before the European Central Bank will introduce increasing of the massive bond-buying program which is widely expected to happen this week on Thursday. This decision was reflected on the safe-haven assets like yellow metal which within a day added $40/ounce. Secondly, the safe-haven demand picked up on the back of the downgrading Russia economy. Some traders believes that the price may go all the way to $1,300/ounce. Nevertheless, we should be careful with any longer-term buying positions as stock market can take over and cut the price of gold.

Economics events (GMT time):