The Indian currency gained 0.66% against the US dollar for the week ended Friday, April 10 to stand at 50 as compared to 50.33 during the last week’s closure on April 3 mainly because of the strong rally in local equities and firm US unit.

Rupee, on Monday, went up on the back of sharp gains in the local equities that lifted up the hopes of the foreign fund inflows, but reduced its gains as refiners bought US units.

The partially convertible Indian currency marked its closure 0.6% stronger at 50.04/05 against USD than Thursday`s close of 50.33/35.

The USD/JPY is still stuck around 100 as the highly-psychological level is proving to be as difficult to overcome as investors could have anticipated. Core Machinery Orders came in far above analyst expectations today, showing capital expenditure is improving in Japan due to dwindling inventories.

Core Machinery Orders are forward looking, so the positive release gives investors hope that the Japanese economy could be finding a bottom. Aso is expected to announce a $150+ Billion stimulus package by the end of the week aimed at reviving the downtrodden economy.

The consolidation in the GBP/USD carries on as investors await the monetary policy decision from the BOE today.  Though the BOE has little wiggle room as far as its benchmark rate is concerned, investors will be more focused on any hints as to the success rate of quantitative easing thus far. 

Britain’s economic data has been showing signs of life on all fronts the past couple weeks, preventing any sharp movements to the downside despite the recent selloff in U.S. equities.

Therefore, the Cable remains in an advantageous position unless the BOE presents any unexpectedly negative news monetarily.  Nevertheless, we expect the positive correlation between the Cable and U.S. equities to hold true.

The EUR/USD is edging up on light volume as investors continue to bite on oversold conditions. The Trade Balance and Factory Orders data from Germany cheered up the bulls yesterday.

However, we haven't seen any game-changing movements to the upside with our 1st tier downtrend line bearing down on price. The near-term obstacle will be hopping over 3/31 highs, or our 1.3351 resistance.

European paired currencies could be relatively quiet over the remainder of the week as traders shut off their computers early to celebrate Easter with their families.

Gold has carried it's upwards momentum into Thursday's trading session despite the S&P futures trading higher pre-market. Therefore, we could see a pop towards our 1st tier downtrend line as investors take advantage of oversold conditions.

Of course, the path of gold will ultimately depend on its negative correlation with equities. If the U. S. economic releases come in better than expected today, we could see a rapid reversal into the precious metal's debilitating downtrend.

The downtrend is clearly still in play with the uptrend's backbone broken and the highly psychological $900/oz relaxing in the distance. The near-term uphill battle will be yesterday's highs, or our previous $890.64/oz resistance.

Crude futures shot higher yesterday on impressive volume despite weekly inventories coming in slightly higher than expectations. Even though the number missed, inventory levels were still an improvement from last week's rise of 2.8 million barrels.

Crude futures proceeded to muscle through our 1st and 2nd tier uptrend lines and rallied past the highly psychological $50/bbl level in the process.

Despite the strong rally, the futures were deflected by our 1st tier downtrend line while backing away from 4/7 highs, indicating the downtrend continues to pull its weight.