Most of the forex majors failed to make new highs last Friday apart from AUD/USD. In fact, the USD closed the day near the highs. But today, it looks like USD traders are uncertain again on what side to take. We are seeing a similar price action in cryptocurrencies. Let’s take a closer look at these two markets.

The USD doesn’t know whether it is feeling sick or well

USD Down, Now Up

The US Dollar is down across the board. It made a dive lower yesterday, right when the markets opened. The US government shutdown affected the USD, although not in all pairs. The Buck stood still against commodity currencies, but it lost about 30 pips against the Yen and 40 pips against the Euro.

That said, the USD reversed and made its way higher during the Tokyo session, but the European session reversed the market again. As a result, the USD is still slipping at the moment.

Nevertheless, we are long on AUD/USD today. We opened this forex signal last Friday and at the moment it is going in the right direction. AUD/USD made a quick dive earlier this morning, but it has been climbing since it met the 100 SMA on the H1 chart.

Although, USD buyers are hesitating to push any higher at the moment. Most of the forex majors have stalled and are not making new highs. This means that a reverse lower might follow. I have a trade in mind, but I will explain it in the forex trades section below.

The Uptrend Hasn’t Resumed Yet in Cryptocurrencies

The cryptocurrency market feels more relaxed now. In December we saw a massive jump higher which was followed by a major correction lower. Most of the altcoins lost more than half their value during this period, but that stopped.

The same price action continued during most of January, but it seems like the volatility has decreased now. This is good for trading cryptocurrencies in the short term. We still hold a long-term buy signal in Bitcoin, so we would appreciate some volatility, hopefully to the upside.

Cryptos actually started climbing higher on Saturday. All major cryptos made some decent gains, with Bitcoin gaining about $1,300. However, the market lost all its gains yesterday. Today the cryptocurrency market doesn’t know which way to go.

The 100 SMA remains in place on the daily Bitcoin chart. That moving average has been providing solid support on dips and at the moment it comes at roughly $10,700. If the price is to respect the 100 daily SMA, then we shouldn’t see Bitcoin touch the $10,000 level. Or at least, it shouldn’t slip below there.

The 100 SMA has now moved above the $10,000 level

Trades in Sight

Bullish USD/JPY

• The hourly chart is oversold
• The H1 candlestick formed a doji two periods ago
• An ascending trendline has formed

USD/JPY is turning higher now

The 110 level looks like it’s holding. The price has been returning to these levels but without being able to break below 110. The lowshave been getting higher, which is a sign that the reverse is coming. Buyers are becoming more confident and are buying this pair higher every time. We might decide to open a buy forex signal at any time, probably with a stop below 110.

In Conclusion

Volatility in financial markets has decreased today. Today’s economic data is very light, so we don’t expect major moves today. That said, I don’t see a clear trend today, therefore, don’t try pushing trades too far. Get what you can and run away with it.