GLOBAL STOCKS RISE AHEAD OF ALPHABET AND MICROSOFT EARNINGS
Global stocks turned green on Tuesday as companies continued publishing their quarterly results. Most of these results were better than estimated. For example, Raytheon said that its earnings per share rose to $1.15 while Valero Energy’s profit rose to $2.31. General Electric published weak earnings as the cost of doing business rose. As a result, its stock crashed by more than 3.3% in premarket trading. In Europe, UBS had a net income of $2.7 billion, comfortably ahead of the expected $2.4 billion. Its trading revenue rose by 59%. In London, HSBC said that its profit was hit by the ongoing Covid crisis in Hong Kong while the Russia-Ukraine war had an impact.
The Japanese yen rose slightly against the US dollar as investors predicted that the Bank of Japan will be forced to intervene. The currency has crashed by more than 11% in less than two months and is currently hovering near its 20-year low. According to the Financial Times, there is ongoing speculation that the Finance Ministry will order the central bank to intervene. If this happens, it will be the first time it has done that since 1998. Unlike other central banks, the BoJ has pledged to maintain an easy money policy for some time. While a weaker yen is positive for large companies, it hurts smaller importers which employ most of the population.
The American session will see a number of important events. The Conference Board will publish the latest consumer confidence data. Analysts expect these numbers to reveal that confidence rose in April even as inflation rose. There will be other important big-tech earnings after the market closes. Analysts expect that Alphabet’s total revenue will have risen to $68.1 billion in Q1. That will be a 23% increase from the same quarter in 2021. On the other hand, Microsoft’s revenue is expected to have risen by 17% to $49 billion. Other companies to watch will be Visa, General Motors, Chipotle, and Mondelez.
USDJPY
The USDJPY pair retreated slightly to a low of 127.54 as worries about the weak Japanese yen continued. It is slightly below the year-to-date high of 129.47. On the four-hour chart, the pair has moved below the 25-day moving average while the Relative Strength Index (RSI) has continued dropping. The momentum oscillator has also kept falling. Therefore, the pair will likely keep falling as bears target the support at 126.
EURUSD
The EURUSD pair crashed to the lowest level since 2020 as the US dollar strength continued. On the four-hour chart, the pair dropped below the short and long-term moving averages while oscillators have moved below the oversold level. The pair is also below the dots of the Parabolic SAR indicator. Therefore, the bearish momentum will likely keep falling.
EURCHF
The EURCHF pair has been in a strong bearish trend in the past few days. The pair moved to a low of 1.0223 and moved below the 25-day moving average. The Relative Strength Index has dropped close to the oversold level. The Stochastic Oscillator has moved close to the oversold level. The pair will likely keep falling.
