General analysis GBPUSD, EURUSD, NZDUSD, AUDUSD, USDCAD, XAUUSD, Brent, WTI for 30.09.2021

The U.S. currency remains the basic tool for risk aversion this week. Today short-term pressure on USD was provided by the publication of statistics on the US labor market. At the same time, positive US GDP data for the second quarter was ignored by the market, as earlier the Fed announced a stronger forecast for gross domestic product. The regulator has revised up its forecast for 2021 towards a slowdown in growth, but in any case, expectations remain positive.

On Thursday the EUR/USD pair showed a minimal decline. In the second half of the day, the pair strengthened amid the growth of initial claims on unemployment benefits in the U.S. from 351K to 362K. At the same time, the pair failed to consolidate above the psychological level of 1.1600, which indicated the investors' pessimism about the strength of the European currency.

The British pound is showing a moderate recovery today. GBP/USD strengthened thanks to GDP growth of 23.6% in the second quarter, 1.4% above the forecast.

The major Pacific zone currencies are also showing moderate gains. AUD/USD and NZD/USD reacted positively to the fact that China managed to keep its business indicators in a positive zone in September. In addition, given the importance of U.S. labor market conditions to the Fed, we can expect a short-term surge in investor interest in risk. The USD/CAD did not take full advantage of the weak US macro statistics and failed to overcome the support at 1.2685. However, given the energy crisis in many countries, the CAD has not exhausted its upside potential.

Brent and WTI crude oil showed minimal strengthening on Thursday. Some investors switched from gold to commodities, which supports the hydrocarbons market. Moreover, rising inventories of the major oil products in the U.S. put minor pressure on the trading instrument, as the market is still short of supply.

Gold shows the most significant intraday growth among the popular trading instruments. The volume of long positions on XAU/USD is gradually increasing, and if market participants will not resort to profit-taking within the framework of short-term speculative trading, the pair will be able to storm the 1800 level again.