US dollar weakness continued through the end of July, however the trend was stopped short following this past Friday’s US non-farm payrolls (NFP).
Data showed that payrolls in July increased to 209,000, well above the expected 183,000 and the previous month reading was also revised upwards to 231,000 from a previous 222,000. The unemployment rate tightened to 4.3 per cent with monthly hourly earnings firming at 0.3 per cent as expected, and up from a previous reading of 0.2 per cent. As published last month, any improving US data would spark buying rallies in the greenback and this proved in full flow following the latest jobs report. The US dollar Index rallied more than 0.8 per cent to close the week at 93.42 levels. Despite the blip in sentiment, the dollar remains entrenched in a bearish pattern, consolidating above 15 month lows. Markets will next turn to this Friday’s US inflation release. Due out at 16:30 Dubai time, the report is expected to show price growth at 0.2 per cent month-on-month and 1.8 per cent year on year in July. Along with output figures & employment, inflation has been a key mandate of the Fed (and its forming of future US rate policy) and of the three, inflation continues to lag. A materialisation of the 1.8 per cent reading in July would snap a four-month losing streak - since February this year, US year-on-year inflation has trended downwards from 2.7 per cent to 1.6 per cent in June – and July’s expectations of 1.8 per cent would continue to shore up US Dollar bulls through the first two weeks of August and will keep the index above 92.50 levels. The Dollar remains sensitive to political developments out of Washington – and this will keep any upward moves in check with strong resistance kicking in at 94.33 levels.
After a stellar July in which it posted 30-month highs, the EUR/USD has been held in check through the early parts of August largely due to the strong dollar moves following the US NFP report. Technically, the Dubai Gold & Commodities Exchange (DGCX) euro contract is approaching the lower end of the monthly Ichimoku cloud and this forms the upper resistance for EUR/USD at 1.19 levels through August. Despite The European Central Bank president Mario Draghi’s non-committal body language at the most recent ECB meet, euro longs seem like the most functional option - however, expect to see volatility to pick up the early part of September when the ECB is next set to meet.
Like the euro, the British pound came off multi-month highs to start August. The most recent Bank of England (BoE) rate decision showed an interesting shift in monetary policy committee voting sentiment - two members voted to hike rates while six members voted to hold rates - this was up from the previous month in which the split was three and five. The dovish shift in voting was coupled with the BoE cutting future UK growth rates – growth forecasts for this year were slashed to 1.7 per cent, down from a 1.9 per cent projection in May. For 2018, expectations were cut to 1.6 per cent from a previously expected 1.7 per cent. As the effects of last year’s Brexit vote continue to pan out, the BoE may be in a position to hike rates slightly sooner than their expected third quarter 2018 window as a result of increasing inflation and slowing output. While we expect some pressure for the pound this month, we expect support in DGCX’s pound contract at 1.2930 levels which would give the most value for a short term long strategy. Upsides while be capped at 1.32 levels through August.
And finally, volatility in gold has seen the precious metal oscillate in the channel between 1208 and 1276 on DGCX. Gold will continue to focus on it’s inverse correlation with the US dollar index and we expect to see initial support coming in in the channel between 1240 and 1245, a break of which would expose 1210 levels. On the upside, it seems unlikely gold will have enough steam to break through 1274 levels in the month ahead.
Gaurav Kashyap, Market Strategist at EGM Futures
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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BORDERLANDS
Starring: Cate Blanchett, Kevin Hart, Jamie Lee Curtis
Director: Eli Roth
Rating: 0/5
Company%20Profile
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BIGGEST CYBER SECURITY INCIDENTS IN RECENT TIMES
SolarWinds supply chain attack: Came to light in December 2020 but had taken root for several months, compromising major tech companies, governments and its entities
Microsoft Exchange server exploitation: March 2021; attackers used a vulnerability to steal emails
Kaseya attack: July 2021; ransomware hit perpetrated REvil, resulting in severe downtime for more than 1,000 companies
Log4j breach: December 2021; attackers exploited the Java-written code to inflitrate businesses and governments
DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE
Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Hugh Jackman, Emma Corrin
Director: Shawn Levy
Rating: 3/5
Summer special
Company Profile
Name: Thndr
Started: 2019
Co-founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Sector: FinTech
Headquarters: Egypt
UAE base: Hub71, Abu Dhabi
Current number of staff: More than 150
Funds raised: $22 million
COMPANY%20PROFILE%20
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Company%20profile
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COMPANY%20PROFILE
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The specs
Engine: 2.7-litre 4-cylinder Turbomax
Power: 310hp
Torque: 583Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Price: From Dh192,500
On sale: Now
The specs
Engine: 1.4-litre 4-cylinder turbo
Power: 180hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 250Nm at 3,00rpm
Transmission: 5-speed sequential auto
Price: From Dh139,995
On sale: now
Biog
Mr Kandhari is legally authorised to conduct marriages in the gurdwara
He has officiated weddings of Sikhs and people of different faiths from Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Russia, the US and Canada
Father of two sons, grandfather of six
Plays golf once a week
Enjoys trying new holiday destinations with his wife and family
Walks for an hour every morning
Completed a Bachelor of Commerce degree in Loyola College, Chennai, India
2019 is a milestone because he completes 50 years in business
Company Profile
Company name: Fine Diner
Started: March, 2020
Co-founders: Sami Elayan, Saed Elayan and Zaid Azzouka
Based: Dubai
Industry: Technology and food delivery
Initial investment: Dh75,000
Investor: Dtec Startupbootcamp
Future plan: Looking to raise $400,000
Total sales: Over 1,000 deliveries in three months
The%20specs
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Company profile
Name: Infinite8
Based: Dubai
Launch year: 2017
Number of employees: 90
Sector: Online gaming industry
Funding: $1.2m from a UAE angel investor
Company%20Profile
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TCL INFO
Teams:
Punjabi Legends Owners: Inzamam-ul-Haq and Intizar-ul-Haq; Key player: Misbah-ul-Haq
Pakhtoons Owners: Habib Khan and Tajuddin Khan; Key player: Shahid Afridi
Maratha Arabians Owners: Sohail Khan, Ali Tumbi, Parvez Khan; Key player: Virender Sehwag
Bangla Tigers Owners: Shirajuddin Alam, Yasin Choudhary, Neelesh Bhatnager, Anis and Rizwan Sajan; Key player: TBC
Colombo Lions Owners: Sri Lanka Cricket; Key player: TBC
Kerala Kings Owners: Hussain Adam Ali and Shafi Ul Mulk; Key player: Eoin Morgan
Venue Sharjah Cricket Stadium
Format 10 overs per side, matches last for 90 minutes
When December 14-17
Sarfira
Director: Sudha Kongara Prasad
Starring: Akshay Kumar, Radhika Madan, Paresh Rawal
Rating: 2/5
Nancy 9 (Hassa Beek)
Nancy Ajram
(In2Musica)
Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi
Director: Kangana Ranaut, Krish Jagarlamudi
Producer: Zee Studios, Kamal Jain
Cast: Kangana Ranaut, Ankita Lokhande, Danny Denzongpa, Atul Kulkarni
Rating: 2.5/5
What is graphene?
Graphene is extracted from graphite and is made up of pure carbon.
It is 200 times more resistant than steel and five times lighter than aluminum.
It conducts electricity better than any other material at room temperature.
It is thought that graphene could boost the useful life of batteries by 10 per cent.
Graphene can also detect cancer cells in the early stages of the disease.
The material was first discovered when Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov were 'playing' with graphite at the University of Manchester in 2004.
Company%20Profile
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THE BIO
Favourite author - Paulo Coelho
Favourite holiday destination - Cuba
New York Times or Jordan Times? NYT is a school and JT was my practice field
Role model - My Grandfather
Dream interviewee - Che Guevara
Greatest of All Time
Starring: Vijay, Sneha, Prashanth, Prabhu Deva, Mohan
Fixtures
Opening day Premier League fixtures for August 9-11
August 9
Liverpool v Norwich 11pm
August 10
West Ham v Man City 3.30pm
Bournemouth v Sheffield Utd 6pm
Burnley v Southampton 6pm
C Palace v Everton 6pm
Leicester v Wolves 6pm
Watford v Brighton 6pm
Tottenham v Aston Villa 8.30pm
August 11
Newcastle v Arsenal 5pm
Man United v Chelsea 7.30pm
Confirmed%20bouts%20(more%20to%20be%20added)
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