MARKETS MIXED FOLLOWING WEEKEND MISSILE STRIKES

Asian and European stocks were lower today following the weekend’s escalation between the US and Moscow. Over the weekend, United States, France and UK military launched targeted missiles to Syria, a country that has been accused of using chemical weapons. In response, Russia called an emergency security council meeting condemning the actions of the three countries. On Sunday, US ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley announced that the US would add more sanctions to Russia for her support to the Syrian regime. At the same time, a report by WSJ showed that Russia was preparing a list sanctioning top American companies like General Electric and Boeing.

US Futures were higher following the announcement of quarterly results by Bank of America. The bank announced a quarterly EPS of $0.62 v $0.59 and revenues of $23.1B v $23.06B. This is in line with what the other big banks like Citigroup, JP Morgan, and Wells Fargo reported. Later today, investors will get data from Netflix.

The dollar was down today against its major peers. It was down by 0.30% and 0.46% against the euro and the pound respectively. This came even after the Census Bureau data showed improving retail sales. According to the bureau, the MoM retail sales improved by 0.6% compared to last month’s data of negative 0.1%. Analysts were expecting the sales to rise by 0.4%. Meanwhile, the core retail sales that excludes automobiles remained unchanged at 0.2%.

EUR/USD

The EUR/USD pair is trading at 1.2378, which is slightly higher than today’s open. The pair is currently trading near the highest level since Friday last week. As shown below, the pair has retraced to the 50% level from its weekly high. There is a likelihood that the pair could continue the upward momentum, as evidenced by the MACD indicator below.

NAS100

NASDAQ ended the week higher by about 2.77%. The futures show that the index will open 0.75% higher. After reaching a low of $6296, the index rose to a high of $6,705. This week, the movements on this index will likely be about the earnings season. Today, after the market closes, Netflix will release its earnings. As always, investors will ignore the EPS and the revenues and instead focus on the subscriber growth. If Netflix continues the winning streak, there is a likelihood that the index will test the monthly high of $6830.

USD/JPY

After reaching a low of 104.61 on March 22, the USD/JPY pair started an upward trend. As it did this, the pair established an Impulse Elliot Wave pattern. Last week, the pair reached a high of 107.76. Today, it is a few points lower, and is trading at the mid-part of the Bollinger Band. There is a possibility that the pair will see a minor correction, as the Elliot Corrective Wave sets in.