Fawad Razaqzada

The US dollar has been a standout loser in the FX space today. A Democrat-controlled Congress is widely seen as being at least mildly negative for the dollar, partly because of the potential implications for the AI investment story and partly because of the risk of another prolonged government funding standoff, potentially from next summer. This has allowed the likes of the GBP/USD to rally alongside gold and silver.

Markets had a wild overnight session, with futures initially plunging before staging a sharp reversal and turning decisively higher. Global equity markets also bounced back, alongside gold and silver, while the US dollar has weakened. Oil prices fell on hopes of a deal between the US and Iran, providing another boost to market sentiment. The key question is why have markets rebounded so strongly and, more importantly, whether the recovery can last, given the prior assumption that a blue sweep would have been net negative for stocks?

The Nasdaq 100 was finding some support at 28,000 after recent sell-off amid concerns about the AI trade. Even with oscillators oversold, the risk to the near-term forecast is tilted to the downside.

Silver is testing key support at $49 to $50, the area of its 2011 high, and has yet to bounce. A bullish reversal candlestick would make the picture more constructive, but for now the near-term forecast hangs in the balance.

Gold has started the first week of the new month trying to recover some ground after another bruising week. Oil prices have taken a sharp drop and that has allowed risk assets to bounce back, which has clearly helped the precious metal too. However, with sentiment remaining bearish towards the metals, and with $4000 level having been taken out last week, the path of least resistance is to the downside for gold.

The GBP/USD heads into a crowded week of event risk, with the midterm elections, a Bank of England rate decision and Friday's non-farm payrolls report all capable of moving markets sharply. The greenback remains fundamentally well supported by a hawkish Federal Reserve, but much of that is already priced in, while the renewed sell-off in technology stocks has exposed its vulnerability.

While the energy shock is a major heading for the euro, the single currency remains supported by a hawkish European Central Bank while growth data in the Eurozone has also been surprisingly resilient. Meanwhile, the dollar faces some near-term positioning risks as markets look ahead to the US midterm elections and given the renewed weakness in technology stocks.

After a three-day recovery, gold prices have fallen in excess of 1.2% so far today, as the metal continues to hover around the $4,000 level. Today’s bearish price action threatens this key level, especially when you consider last week’s 4% sell-off. For now, gold is hanging around this psychological threshold, but it remains to be seen whether it will hold for too long.