Skip to Content
News & Analysis at your fingertips.

We use a range of cookies to give you the best possible browsing experience. By continuing to use this website, you agree to our use of cookies.
You can learn more about our cookie policy here, or by following the link at the bottom of any page on our site. See our updated Privacy Policy here.

Free Trading Guides
Subscribe
Please try again
Select

Live Webinar Events

0

Economic Calendar Events

0

Notify me about

Live Webinar Events
Economic Calendar Events

H

High

M

Medium

L

Low
More View More
US Dollar Price Action Setups into Year-End: EURUSD, USDJPY, AUDUSD

US Dollar Price Action Setups into Year-End: EURUSD, USDJPY, AUDUSD

What's on this page

US Dollar Price Action Setups Into Year-End: EUR/USD, USD/JPY, AUD/USD

Yesterday brought the final FOMC rate decision of the year, and the Fed hiked rates for the fourth time in 2018. The bank did soften guidance for next year, although this may have been not quite as dovish as markets were looking for as stocks have been crushed in the aftermath. The US Dollar, on the other hand, posed an initial move of strength around the announcement and accompanying press conference; followed by a pronounced move of weakness that began around the open of trading in Asia.

Given the backdrop, with next week bringing Christmas and the week after bringing New Years, this webinar was about taking a step back to look at swing setups going into year-end. The US Dollar was the centerpiece, and I looked at four setups for USD-weakness and three for USD-strength.

Forex Talking Points:

- If you’re looking to improve your trading approach, our Traits of Successful Traders research could help. This is based on research derived from actual results from real traders, and this is available to any trader completely free-of-charge.

- If you’re looking for a primer on the FX market, we can help. To get a ground-up explanation behind the Forex market, please click here to access our New to FX Trading Guide.

If you’d like to sign up for our webinars, we host an event on Tuesday and Thursday, each of which can be accessed from the below links:

Tuesday: Tuesday, 1PM ET

Thursday: Thursday 1PM ET

US Dollar to Fresh Monthly Lows Following FOMC Rate Hike

After posing an initial move of strength around yesterday’s rate hike , the US Dollar has fallen-down to fresh monthly lows, crossing the key Fibonacci level at 96.47 in the process. To put the backdrop in scope, the US Dollar was very strong in the month of October as fears around Italy were running high, bringing along with it a bearish move in the Euro as investors prepared for an acrimonious scenario between the European Commission and the Italian government. Since then, however, the Dollar has been rather range-bound, and this recent bout of weakness can help to put the currency in a more bearish light.

US Dollar Daily Price Chart: Fresh Monthly Lows Post-FOMC

us dollar usd daily price chart

EUR/USD Brings Bullish Potential After EU/Italy Deal

This was perhaps lost in the shuffle given the excitement around yesterday’s FOMC rate decision, but the deal between Europe and Italy removes a major stumbling block for the Euro. Pain in the currency showed up in April around the election of Euro-skeptic parties to lead Italy, driven by the apparent fear of a debt stand-off between the newly-installed government and the European Commission. That fear began to come to light in September and held through October, driving EUR/USD to fresh yearly lows.

Last Thursday brought the announcement from the ECB that the bank was going to finish bond buying via the bank’s QE program; and then this week’s announcement of a détente between the EC and Italy can further open the door for gains in the single currency.

In EUR/USD, the area of interest is around 1.1500. This is the top-end of a support-turned-resistance zone that I’ve been following for the entirety of Q4, and a topside break through this area opens the door for bullish continuation setups. In the webinar, I discussed how this could be done in a risk-cautious manner.

EUR/USD Eight-Hour Price Chart

eurusd eur/usd eight hour price chart

GBP/USD Tests Trend-Line Resistance, Brexit Remains a Threat for Bulls

GBP/USD has continued to rally after last week’s short-covering continued up to fresh weekly highs. The resistance level that I was following at 1.2671 has slowly given way as buyers have continued to push, and prices appear poised to re-test the psychological level at 1.2750.

Of importance – Brexit remains an issue for bullish scenarios in the pair, as the second week of the New Year is expected to bring the Brexit vote in Parliament and that still looks unlikely to pass.

GBP/USD Four-Hour Price Chart

gbpusd gbp/usd four hour price chart

USD/JPY for USD-Weakness Strategies

I started looking at the short-side of USD/JPY coming into this week, and in short-order both targets came into play as the pair plunged down to fresh monthly lows. That selling pressure has remained through this morning, and this can keep the short-side of the pair as attractive in the near-term.

USD/JPY Daily Price Chart

usdjpy usd/jpy daily price chart

USD/CAD for USD-Strength Strategies, Caution at 1.3500

USD/CAD is testing a big level at 1.3500, as USD-strength has continued to show following yesterday’s FOMC rate decision; and this can keep the pair as attractive for bullish USD strategies. This indicates that even with the post-FOMC weakness in the US Dollar, CAD has been weaker, and this is an attractive them as the end of 2018 approaches. In the webinar, I looked at a couple of different support levels of interest for bullish strategies in the pair.

USD/CAD Eight-Hour Price Chart

usdcad usd/cad eight hour price chart

AUD/USD for USD-Strength Strategies

Another interesting reaction around the US Dollar from yesterday’s FOMC rate decision showed in AUD/USD. Aussie was very strong in the month of November and prices started to pullback in early-December. I had looked at price action building into a bear flag formation after testing that key zone on the chart last week, and that formation has continued to push-lower.

Around the Fed yesterday, AUD/USD perched down for a test at .7100; and even when USD-weakness came back, AUD/USD merely set lower-high resistance before falling again. This keeps the short-side of the pair of interest going into year-end.

AUD/USD Four-Hour Price Chart

audusd aud/usd eight hour price chart

NZD/USD for USD-Strength Strategies

Similar story as the above on AUD/USD, where a strong month of November has recently pulled back and the pair is now putting in bearish connotations. This can keep the short-side of the pair of interest for strategies around USD-strength going into year-end.

NZD/USD Four-Hour Price Chart

nzdusd nzd/usd four hour price chart

Chart prepared by James Stanley

To read more:

Are you looking for longer-term analysis on the U.S. Dollar? Our DailyFX Forecasts for Q4 have a section for each major currency, and we also offer a plethora of resources on USD-pairs such as EUR/USD, GBP/USD, USD/JPY, AUD/USD. Traders can also stay up with near-term positioning via our IG Client Sentiment Indicator.

Forex Trading Resources

DailyFX offers an abundance of tools, indicators and resources to help traders. For those looking for trading ideas, our IG Client Sentiment shows the positioning of retail traders with actual live trades and positions. Our trading guides bring our DailyFX Quarterly Forecasts and our Top Trading Opportunities; and our real-time news feed has intra-day interactions from the DailyFX team. And if you’re looking for real-time analysis, our DailyFX Webinars offer numerous sessions each week in which you can see how and why we’re looking at what we’re looking at.

If you’re looking for educational information, our New to FX guide is there to help new(er) traders while our Traits of Successful Traders research is built to help sharpen the skill set by focusing on risk and trade management.

--- Written by James Stanley, Strategist for DailyFX.com

Contact and follow James on Twitter: @JStanleyFX

DailyFX provides forex news and technical analysis on the trends that influence the global currency markets.

DISCLOSURES