This week suddenly ends on a positive note as the S&P 500 broad market index, which started to climb on Wednesday, has lead the major stock market indicator to 4032 points, the highest since August 30. This is very strange considering all the negative news that could have affected the stock market this week.
The European Central Bank (ECB) raised all interest rates by 75 basis points. This is the second time in the history of the single currency that such a move has been performed. The Federal Reserve’s (Fed) Chairman Jerome Powell confirmed the central bank will continue to do everything needed to bring inflation down to the 2.0% target. This kind of rhetoric is also being echoes by ECB President Christine Lagarde who has assured markets that the Bank is likely to take further bold steps to raise interest rates over the coming months. The message from these two bank leaders may enforce stocks to continue to move down.
However, investors found a reason to pull on the breaks and stop markets from another sell-off. Chicago Fed Bank President Charles Evans supported investors by saying that the next inflation report next week may point to how much the Fed could raise its interest rates this month. "If I saw inflation maybe cooling a little bit that's not going to change the fact that I still think we are going to need to top out at something like 3.5% to 4%, it's just that maybe we don't have to do it that soon," Evans said. Some investors were flooded with euphoria after crude prices fell by 16% over the last two month. It is clear that inflation may slow down significantly in August and perhaps prompt a less-than-expected Fed interest rate move.
It sounds more like wishful thinking as inflation is considerably above the existing level of interest rates for the Fed to pull the breaks on, even if prices slowed down in August. However, many investors are seen to support the idea and hope for stocks to recover. Even though some investors are holding onto hope, we should not exclude the possibility that a downside path of stock indexes could be a bit bumpy. The technical picture for the S&P 500 index is still negative as it is moving within an aggressive downside formation after it failed to climb above 4020 points on Thursday. This has now become a strong resistance level that may send the index back to the downside targets at 3850-3950 points. More negative drivers may send the index further down to the extreme secondary targets at 3600-3700 points, and even further down to heartbreaking 3000-3100 points.
In recent weeks, short positions at 70% of the targeted volume were opened at the average price of 4285-4290 points. The rest of the 30% could be opened once strong reliable downside signals emerge. The final downside target in the long-term is located at 2100-2300 points that could be reached by the end of 2022.
The oil market made a huge step to the downside towards $75-85 per barrel of the Brent crude benchmark. Crude prices dipped down amid new anti-covid measures in China, unwinding global recession fears and a sharp rise of oil inventories in the United States. Brent prices slipped down to $87-88 per barrel, the lowest since January 2022, and are likely to continue down to the extreme targets at $50-65 per barrel that could be hit by November. In the short-term crude prices are less predictable making any entry points unreliable at the moment.
Gold prices are on a downside slide and they may last until the end of October. The primary scenario suggests prices may reach $1350-1450 per ounce by November. So, it would be reasonable to open short or small-short positions considering the current price movement at $1730 per ounce.
The Euro was cheered on by the ECB’s decision to sharpen its interest rates hike, changing its formation to the aggressive upside with a primary target at 1.02500-1.03500. A reasonable correction to 1.00500-1.00800 is needed to open long positions. Once this correction is made the EURUSD could be interesting for long trades.
GBPUSD also changed its formation to the aggressive upside with a target at 1.18000-1.18500. The pair needs to step back to 1.15300-1.15800 to be interesting to open long positions.