Bitcoin looks close to making a major bullish breakout beyond the $31k area.
- Bitcoin closed yesterday below what seems to be a very pivotal round number at $31k, but the price action remains bullish, suggesting an important bullish breakout might be underway.
- Asian stocks are lower following poor Chinese PMI data, with the Hang Seng Index and the Nikkei 225 Index both lower on the day.
- The Japanese Yen remains the weakest major currency over the long term. Friday saw the USD/JPY currency pair make a new 7-month high above ¥145, but it is now stuck below that level as the danger of intervention from the Bank of Japan intended to drive down the rate remains. Trend traders will remain interested in being short of the Japanese Yen, which has also a reached multi-year low Friday against the Euro.
- In the Forex market, the New Zealand Dollar has been the strongest major currency over the Asian session, while the Japanese Yen has been the weakest. The US Dollar is continuing to rise weakly today after rallying last week, with the Dollar Index beginning to suggest it may soon establish a new long-term bullish trend technically, but its chart pattern is still strongly suggestive of consolidation.
- OPEC announced further production cuts by Russia and Saudi Arabia, but this failed to produce any meaningful rise in the price of crude oil.
- Cocoa futures are continuing to rise to new multi-year highs, attracting trend traders on the long side. The move is driven by strong demand and poor harvests in parts of Africa.
- There will be a release of the most recent FOMC meeting minutes today which will be important as it may convince traders that the Fed will make a second rate hike after July. If so, this will likely boost the US Dollar and the 2-Year US Treasury yield.