foreign exchange

The US dollar fell against other major currencies in early Friday trading, and this week it appears to be closing lower for the first time since early January. After comments from senior Federal Reserve officials, the US dollar lost support, stating that the central bank may stick to its plan to raise interest rates by 25 basis points in March and keep the final interest rate slightly above 5%. On the other hand, the euro may rise against the US dollar at the end of this week. With the release of higher than expected eurozone inflation data, the fate of the single currency reversed on Thursday. Given that consumer prices are still rising rapidly, Christine Lagarde, the President of the European Central Bank, stated that interest rate hikes may have to exceed previous plans. No wonder the euro performed well at the end of this week.

Ricardo Evangelista - Senior Analyst, ActivTrades

European Equities

European stock markets slightly rose, continuing the overnight gains in Asian stock markets as risk appetite rose on the last trading day of the week.

The bond and stock markets ended three consecutive days of decline on Friday as market sentiment strengthened after the latest batch of reassuring macroeconomic data in China highlighted the resilience of the economy to the current monetary tightening environment.

Investors have started the month well as they are increasingly betting that the market adjustment in February is just a temporary turbulence in the larger bull market trend.

The Stoxx-600 index was driven by most sectors, with technology stocks leading gains this morning, while the CAC-40 index performed the best in the eurozone.

After a significant rebound at 7180.0 points on the lower edge, the market is currently challenging the upper limit of its ultra short term bearish channel at 7325.0 points. Both RSI and EMA show bullish signs, and if the market successfully breaks through 7325.0 points, prices may rise strongly again to 7365.0 and 7415.0 points.

Pierre Veyret - ActivTrades Technical Analyst

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