Forex Signals Brief for Aug 16: Can Markets Hold Up into the Weekend?

Markets remain on edge at the moment after a couple of turbulent weeks where volatility has been high.

After the big midweek sell-off, equities have managed to bounce back, but all the focus will be on how we close out the week. Traditionally, Friday’s been a time for traders to take some risk off the table so anything could happen.

Risk-off is still clearly in the air at the moment as GOLD is still trading at it or around the recent highs, while bond yields continue to get crushed as investors move into the safe-haven assets.

The data remains scarce on Friday, with US building permits the only major announcement, but even that is unlikely to sway markets in any meaningful way.

Much of the attention will once again be on how the bonds trade as well as any more headlines on the US-China trade war coming from the President’s Twitter feed. 

Forex Signal Update

The FX Leaders Team finished with 1 win from 2 signals in what has been a really strong week from the guys.

GBP/USD – Pending Signal

The GBP/USD tried to bounce yesterday but quickly retraced back under the key 1.2100 level. In what is another bearish sign for the already weak Pound.

AUD/USD – Active Signal

The AUD/USD has been pushing higher in the Asian session, but there is very strong resistance ahead at 0.6800. We are short, but if this level breaks then that is OK and a sign we need to alter our bias for now.

Cryptocurrency Update

BTC has had a rough week tumbling more than 20% and breaking through the $10,000 level.

This is a move I have been fully expecting after a failure at $12,000 and I feel we might be entering a period of consolidation.

I do think $10,000 will hold. It has already bounced off $9,500 and reclaimed that mark so that to me is a bullish sign. But given the backdrop of global concerns at the moment and the negative news this week, I don’t think we’ll see a quick recovery.

More of a slow consolidation before building into another up move.