Forex market 2024: US dollar gains, stocks sell off in the New Year

Following the Christmas and New Year holidays, markets picked up yesterday. The US dollar had its best day since March 2023, while stock markets and treasuries witnessed a significant selloff. This is a classic early-January trading move—a strong countertrend move that was observed in most markets.

The dollar remained stable during the Asian session, even though significant Asian indices, like the Nikkei 225 and the HSI, saw daily declines.

As 2024 begins, one asset that stands out in the market is Bitcoin, which is consolidating bullishly after hitting a fresh 20-month high price above $45000 yesterday. Traders will be interested in this bullish breakthrough, particularly trend traders. It is said to be influenced in part by the anticipation that authorities would soon approve a new spot Bitcoin ETF from Blackrock.

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Since the Tokyo open, the New Zealand dollar has been the most powerful major currency in the Forex market, while the Japanese yen has been the least powerful. Despite yesterday’s significant countertrend swings in both the EUR/USD and USD/JPY markets, there are still legitimate long-term bullish and bearish trends in each market.

Cocoa futures are unique among commodities because they are in a long-term bullish trend, have a solid foundation, and are not too far from their all-time highs.

Three significant US data releases are scheduled for today:

• ISM Fabrication;
• Minutes of the FOMC Meeting;
• PMI JOLTS Job Openings.