Eurozone
The euro took full advantage of the rise of political risks in the US when it passed the tax reform plan through Congress, restoring half of the losses from the reduction of the last one and a half months, but in order to question the reversal of the trend to the south, something more important is required.
Inflation in the eurozone continues to be low. The price growth in October was only 0.1%, the while growth of the core indicator slowed to 0.9% year-on-year. The weak indicators call into question the ECB's willingness to continue the policy of exiting the soft monetary policy.
The head of the ECB, Mario Draghi, speaking on Friday at a conference in Frankfurt, said that the low-interest policy does not harm the income of European banks that have remained stable over the past two years and, moreover, added that the asset repurchase program can be continued after September 2018, "if it is necessary".
The euro, therefore, immediately lost the driver to growth and went into the lateral range. Most likely, it will continue to be cautious about the direction of the movement and at the beginning of the new week due to the lack of significant macroeconomic releases. On Thursday, the report PMI Markit on the eurozone countries, the forecasts are favorable, with the production index very close to the highs of the last nine years, the service sector index lags behind insignificantly.
Given that the earlier reports released earlier by Ifo and ZEW indicated further growth of consumer confidence, the growth of Markit indices should be expected, which in turn can support the euro.
Also on Thursday, the minutes of the ECB meeting of October 26 will be published. In the light of Draghi's latest comments, the market will be looking for an answer to the question whether the probability of announcing the exact date of completion of the asset buy-back program was announced at the meeting, as the answer to this question may change the long-term expectations for the euro.
For a break above 1.1850 euros more weighty reasons are required. More likely is the consolidation at the achieved levels with the resumption of the activity of bears and the move towards support level of 1.16.
United Kingdom
The report on retail sales published on Thursday could not provide the pound any support, despite the fact that the dollar was exposed to considerable pressure. Retail sales increased by 0.3% in October; this was slightly higher than market expectations, but on an annual basis, it showed a decline of 0.3%, meaning consumer activity continues to be very low. Despite the fact that prices grew quite confidently, the physical volume of goods sold remained at the levels of a year ago, which indicates certain problems in the consumer sector.
Oil
Oil by the close of the week resumed growth, responding to the reduction of the threat of Venezuela's default and the weekly report of Baker Hughes, according to which the rise in the number of active drilling rigs stopped. The current level of quotes , apparently, by the shale industry is perceived as insufficient to significantly resume investments, and without new drilling wells it is difficult to keep production at current levels, given the high rate of their depletion.
The threat of deep correction has decreased, but the chance to update the two-year high, on the contrary, has increased. The market will catch the insider about the upcoming meeting of OPEC +, one must assume that the general background remains favorable for oil.
The material has been provided by InstaForex Company - www.instaforex.com