The US Dollar (USD) trades a bit softer this Monday after the start of the US trading session. Main driver for the step back is the Risk On mode that is being switched on with the US opening bell. Mainly the Nasdaq is leading the charge, up over 1% while Nvidia shares hit a fresh all-time high, sparking a positive tone across the board with even the Dow Jones in green, despite Boeing shares sinking after the incident over the weekend with a broken down door in full flight mode. On the economic front, a calm Monday is ahead with only Consumer Credit data for November due. The focus on credit numbers, loans and defaults is likely to grow in the coming months as several banks signal they are seeing more payment delinquencies. For this week, the main event will be the US inflation numbers on Thursday.
Bets on the US Dollar look split. On the one hand, traders place bets favoring the US Dollar due to increasing geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, with ongoing headlines over the Red Sea and Chinese weaponry found in Hamas storages by Israel. On the other side, traders see reasons for quick rate cuts by the Fed after the implosion of the ISM numbers last Friday. Expect geopolitics to take over control for now, as long as new headlines point to further heightened tensions. In the DXY US Dollar Index, the first level on the upside is 103.00, which falls nearly in line with the descending trend line from the top of October 3 and December 8. Once broken and closed above there, the 200-day Simple Moving Average (SMA) at 103.43 comes into play. The 104.00 level might be a bit too far off, with 103.93 (55-day SMA) coming in as the next resistance on the upside. To the downside, the rejection on the descending trendline is giving fuel to the Greenback bears for further downturn. The line in the sand here is 101.74, the floor which held halfway through December before breaking down in the last two weeks. In case the DXY snaps this level, expect to see a test at the low near 100.80.