The world’s most popular cryptocurrency Bitcoin (BTCUSD) slid to a fresh weekly low of $22,400 Thursday Morning. The good news is that the value of the crypto pair recovered slightly, after the drop now it's flirting with the $22,700 mark. But the gradual decrease is expected to continue if the bearish sentiment continues. Indeed. As recently as February, Bitcoin reached a new high of $24,250 after almost 6 months, but it's been under a consolidation phase all the way since then.

Moving ahead, as I mentioned in the Monthly technical analysis report (https://gulfbrokers.com/en/monthly-technical-analysis-february-2023 ) $23,400 was the first key support area. The pair already broke the support, now the next short-term support is still around the $22,300/200 area then the crucial support level to watch is $21,500. Further selling pressure will intensify only if the pair breaks below $21,500 levels, below which the slide could extend further towards the $20,300 and $19,600 regions.

EQUITIES

US stock futures trade higher on Thursday morning supported by hawkish remarks from Federal Reserve officials. New York Federal Reserve President John Williams said the job market is still extremely robust and that they have more work to do on rates, adding that data will determine the course of rate hikes. Meanwhile, European and UK shares opened higher, and the focus shifted to speech from BoE Governor Andrew Bailey and ECB Vice President Luis De Guindos.

OIL

Crude oil futures registered a higher note early Thursday lifted by better-than-expected reports on US crude stockpiles. The latest US Energy Information Administration report showed on Wednesday, the US crude inventories increased by 2.423 million barrels in the week ended February 3rd, 2023, compared with market expectations of a 2.457-million-barrel increase.

CURRENCIES

In the currency market, Euro slightly recovered from the early session losses supported by hawkish comments from ECB policymakers. “We should see a peak in French inflation in the first half (H1) this year and inflation should then go down,” Furthermore, Isabel Schnabel, an ECB’s Executive Board member, said she plans to raise rates by 50 basis points in March. The British pound remains steady for the second consecutive day against the US dollar and Euro ahead of BoE Governor Andrew Bailey's speech.

GOLD

The precious metal remains under pressure following the Federal Reserve officials reiterated their commitment to keeping raising interest rates. As of this writing, the metal retreats back to below $1880. For today, the main drivers for the gold remain the movement of the US dollar, FED policymaker's comments and the weekly Initial Jobless Claims data.

Economic Outlook

On the data front, the official data showed on Thursday Morning Germany's harmonized inflation slowed in January. Inflation in Germany eased to 9.2 percent in January from 9.6 percent in December. Meanwhile, consumer prices advanced at a faster pace of 8.7 percent annually after the 8.6 percent increase in December.

Coronavirus update:

Worldwide, more than 676 million people have been confirmed infected and more than 6.77 million have died. The United States has confirmed over 104 million cases and has had more than 1.13 million deaths from COVID-19, the highest total in the world.

Technical Outlook and Review

EURUSD: The price actions appear to be part of a consolidation phase and Euro is likely to trade sideways today. However, a fresh demand for the euro can be anticipated once the pair rises above the 1.0800/10 resistance. On the other hand, the next immediate support prevails at 1.0720, further breakout of 1.0700 can lead the pair towards 1.0660/30 levels.

The important levels to watch for today: Support- 1.0720 and 1.0700 Resistance- 1.0780 and 1.0810.

GOLD: The gold price is back above $1885 but as upward momentum is not strong. For today the first support for the Gold appears to be around $1875, in the short-term any break below $1875 the next downside level to watch is $1868/64. On the upper side, the key resistance remains above $1886.

The important levels to watch for today: Support- 1875 and 1860 Resistance- 1888 and 1895.

Quote of the day - “A lot of people get so enmeshed in the markets that they lose their perspective. Working longer does not necessarily equate to working smarter. In fact, sometimes it is the other way around.” - Martin Schwartz.