Global stocks and US stock indexes fell last week after minutes from the Fed's March meeting pointed to aggressive rate hikes. The minutes showed that the U.S. central bank is prepared to raise rates sharply and reduce its balance sheet to cool the economy.

Moving ahead, this week the key economic event to focus on is the US inflation data as the Inflation is running at its fastest pace in four decades. On the other hand, the investors also waiting for the central bank policy-setting meetings due in New Zealand, and Canada. and the Eurozone this week. U.S. exchanges will be closed in observance of Good Friday and several European exchanges will also be closed on Friday.

On the earnings front, the companies due to release their results will be Citi, Morgan Stanley, Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs and Delta Airlines will be among those reporting earnings this week.

GOLD

The safe-haven metal ended slightly higher on Friday despite a strong US dollar supported by rising political tensions between Russia and Ukraine and the prevailing concerns over rising inflation. For this week, the main drivers for the precious metal remain the movement of the US dollar, central banks meeting outcomes and the resurgence of coronavirus cases in China.

Technically the overall momentum remains mixed. The first support for the Gold appears to be around $1920 followed by $1914, in the short-term any break below $1914 the next downside level to watch is $1906/00. On the other upper side, the immediate resistance is around $1950 any break and close above this level will open at $1965 then $1973.

DOLLAR INDEX

The US dollar index was among the best-performer currency pair during the last week. The Index crossed above the psychological resistance 100 mark on Friday, a level not seen since May 2020. The strong bullish sentiment was boosted by the hawkish Fed minutes and geopolitical uncertainties. The biggest driver for the greenback this week is the latest US CPI data and speech from the FED policymakers.

On the bullish side, the key resistance stays above 100.40, and a break above this exposes the index towards the $100.70/90 level. On the flip side, rejection and pullback from the 100.00 psychological resistance allow for a dip towards 99.30, with 98.80 and 98.50 forming additional downside targets.

EURUSD

The currency pair ended in negative territory for the last week. While the pair slightly opened higher this week after the first round of the French Presidential Election which was led by President Macron who is set to face Le Pen in the second round, while polls point to a Macron win at the run-off. This week, the Euro traders and investors are focused on possible measures and changes that the European Central Bank may undertake in the April meeting to deal with rising inflation.

Technically the overall trend looks bearish after the pair failed to hold above 1.0900 and the short-term support is still around 1.0840. If the pair breaks and closes below 1.0840 the next important support is at 1.0800 and 1.0770. On the upside, 1.0950 will act as an immediate and strong hurdle while 1.1000 will be a critical resistance zone because above this, bulls are likely to dominate.

DOW JONES

The Dow Jones ended flat ahead of a big earnings week. Last week the Dow Jones and other US indexes remained under pressure as the markets feared that the US Federal Reserve could be more aggressive in its monetary policy to curb inflation. Dow Jones recovered part of its loss on Thursday and Friday after showing steep weakness in the first few days of last week, helped by positive macroeconomic data.

This week, the first resistance is located for the pair at around 35,150, a break above this level will confirm a possible move to 35,400/700. On the downside, any meaningful pullback now seems to find some support near the 34,400 zones, below which the slide could further get extended towards the 34,100/33,950 region.

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