Mondays consistently pose a myriad of challenges for active traders. Markets are often slow as participants evaluate the weekend news cycle and prospects for the coming week. Today’s conditions on the forex illustrate this point, as ranges are tight amid a widespread non-committal sentiment.

It has been a mixed bag for the USD against the majors. Gains vs the Australian and Canadian dollars are the highlights, with commodity pricing driving each market. Both WTI crude oil and gold are down on the session, showing a bit of life in an otherwise dull atmosphere.

U.S. Dollar Index Futures

The slow action is certainly evidenced by the daily chart for September USD Index futures. Values are up slightly, regaining a small portion of last Friday’s slide. At press time, this market is trading sideways at a key level of downside support.

As a general rule of thumb, I do not typically trade the USD index, but use it as a barometer for the Greenback’s performance. However, there are opportunities to be had in both the futures and CFD markets facing this product. As in all things trading, if you are making money on the USD Index stay the course!

The first half of 2018 has been great for bulls, with values consistently trending higher. Here are a few interesting points to make on the USD Index:

• Price has yet to post a prolonged retracement from yearly highs.
• The value area between 95.000 to 93.000 has held firm since mid-May.
• A bullish bias remains technically intact for the intermediate-term.
• A defined triple-top has set up just above the 95.000 level.

Overview: It is early, but we may be in for a quiet week facing the USD until the release of Q2 U.S. GDP on Friday. Experts are calling for a huge number of 4%, up from the previous report of 2%. If projections fall short of 4%, then we may be in for a concerted challenge to the uptrend in the USD index.