Recovery in U.S. Stocks, Forex Dynamics, and Key Strategies Unveiled

DAILY MARKET NEWSLETTER

February 2, 2024

MARKET WRAP: STOCKS, BONDS, COMMODITIES

On Thursday, U.S. stocks staged a significant recovery from the prior session's losses. The Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 369 points (+0.15%) to a record close of 38,519. The S&P 500 gained 60 points (+1.25%) reaching 4,906, and the Nasdaq 100 climbed 207 points (+1.21%) to 17,344.

Notable Stock Movements:

• Nvidia (NVDA) rebounded 2.44% to a record level of $630.27.

• Merck (MRK) rose 4.64%, exceeding market expectations with strong quarterly results.

• New York Community Bancorp (NYCB) fell 11.13%, extending Wednesday's 38% decline.

• Boston Scientific (BSX) rose 2.47% after Citigroup raised its target price to $71.00.

• Qualcomm (QCOM) declined 4.98%, downgraded to “neutral” by Citigroup.

• After-market hours saw Meta Platforms (META) surge 15% on robust quarterly results and a dividend announcement.

• Amazon.com (AMZN) jumped 7%, while Apple (AAPL) slid 4% after their after-market results.

Market Indicators:

• U.S. 10-year Treasury yield fell 10.3 basis points to a one-month low of 3.862%.

• U.S. ISM manufacturing PMI improved to 49.1 in January, the highest since 2022.

• Initial jobless claims rose to 224,000, surpassing the expected 218,000.

• Later today, the U.S. official jobs report is expected to show non-farm payrolls slowing to 175,000 in January, with the jobless rate remaining at 3.7%.

European Stocks:

• DAX 40 fell 0.26%, CAC 40 down 0.89%, FTSE 100 down 0.11%.

Commodities:

• U.S. WTI crude-oil dropped $1.89 (-2.49%) to $73.96 due to uncertain reports on Israel-Hamas cease-fire.

• Gold price remained stable at $2,054 per ounce.

MARKET WRAP: FOREX

Currency Market:

• U.S. dollar index fell 0.4% to 103.06.

• EUR/USD climbed 53 pips to 1.0871. Eurozone's inflation rate slowed to 2.8% in January, meeting expectations.

• GBP/USD rose 55 pips to 1.2743. Bank of England maintained key interest rate at 5.25%.

• USD/JPY lost 52 pips to 146.42.

• AUD/USD remained unchanged at 0.6571.

• USD/CHF declined 35 pips to 0.8577.

• USD/CAD slipped 48 pips to 1.3385.

• Bitcoin rebounded 1% to $43,000 after two consecutive declines.

Key Forex Strategies:

GBP/USD Intraday: further advance.

• Pivot: 1.2710

• Preference: Long positions above 1.2710, targets at 1.2770 & 1.2800.

• Alternative: Below 1.2710, look for downside with targets at 1.2685 & 1.2660.

• Comment: RSI above 50 indicates a bullish trend.

USD/JPY Intraday: under pressure.

• Pivot: 146.75

• Preference: Short positions below 146.75, targets at 145.90 & 145.60.

• Alternative: Above 146.75, look for upside with targets at 147.10 & 147.45.

• Comment: 146.75 resistance suggests bearish bias.

EUR/USD Intraday: further advance.

• Pivot: 1.0835

• Preference: Long positions above 1.0835, targets at 1.0900 & 1.0930.

• Alternative: Below 1.0835, look for the downside with targets at 1.0805 & 1.0780.

• Comment: A break above 1.0835 signals positive momentum toward 1.0900.

Dow Jones (CME) Intraday: intraday support around 38490.00.

• Pivot: 38490.00

• Preference: Long positions above 38490.00, targets at 38680.00 & 38780.00.

• Alternative: Below 38490.00, look for the downside with targets at 38390.00 & 38240.00.

• Comment: Next resistances at 38680.00 and then 38780.00.