Crude oil price crosses $60 on US stimulus hopes

The euro held steady today even after the relatively disappointing German industrial production numbers. According to the country’s statistics office, industrial production declined from 1.5% in November to 0.0% in January because of the lockdowns. Economists were expecting the data to show that production rose by 0.3%. Later this week, the euro will react to important data from Germany like trade and inflation that are due to come out tomorrow and on Wednesday. 

The price of crude oil rose above $60 for the first time in almost a year as hopes of another record $1.7 trillion stimulus in the United States rose. Brent is trading at $60 while that of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) rose to $57.54. In total, Brent has risen by about $8 per barrel this year, making it the best start of the year in more than 30 years. Investors believe that Joe Biden will reach a deal that will see the government provide more than $1 trillion in stimulus. As a result, in addition to oil, global stocks also rallied today, with the Australia ASX rising by 0.6% and the Dow Jones futures rising by 0.40%.

The Swiss franc was little changed against the dollar after the country’s statistics office published the latest unemployment numbers. The country’s unemployment rate rose from 3.5% to 3.7% in January. Just last week, data by the office showed that consumer confidence also continued to drop during the month. Still, there are hopes that the economy will rebound in the near future. Last week, data showed that the manufacturing and services PMIs rose in January. 

XTI/USD

The XTI/USD price rose to a multi-month high of 57.40 today. On the four-hour chart, the price is above the previous ascending triangle pattern that is shown in yellow. The price has also moved above the 25-day and 15-day exponential moving averages. It is also along the upper line of the Bollinger Bands. Therefore, in the near term, the pair may continue rising as bulls target the next resistance at 60.0.

EUR/USD

The EUR/USD was little changed today after it jumped on Friday following the US nonfarm payroll numbers. It is trading at 1.2030, which is slightly below the descending trendline shown in white. It is also below the Ichimoku cloud while the RSI has moved slightly above the oversold level. Therefore, the pair will remain in a downward trend so long as it is below the Ichimoku cloud and the descending trendline.

USD/CHF

The USD/CHF price wavered today after the Swiss statistics bureau published weak unemployment numbers. On the four-hour chart, the pair is still above the neckline of the head and shoulders pattern and along the 25-day EMA. It is also at the same level as the lower line of the Envelopes indicator. The pair will likely resume the uptrend as bulls attempt to retest last week’s high of 0.9045.