Macro Week In Review/Preview: USD Seems Ready To Move Higher

Last week’s review of the macro market indicators suggested, heading into March the strength that was anticipated to close February did not appear, but weakness did not show up either. Elsewhere looked for Gold to continue the short term bounce higher while Crude Oil churned in the consolidation of the downward move. The US Dollar Index seemed ready to move higher again while US Treasuries were biased higher short term in the pullback. The Shanghai Composite was on the cusp of another leg higher and Emerging Markets were stalled at resistance but not showing any bias. Volatility looked to remain subdued and possibly drifting lower keeping the bias higher for the equity index ETF’s SPDR S&P 500 (ARCA:SPY), iShares Russell 2000 Index (ARCA:IWM) and PowerShares QQQ (NASDAQ:QQQ). Their charts were not as strong with consolidation or a pullback looking more likely in them, especially the SPY with the IWM next and QQQ strongest, holding level.

The week played out with the Gold bounce lasting a nanosecond before reversing lower while Crude Oil continued in the consolidation range. The US Dollar broke out of consolidation higher while Treasuries broke lower and just kept going. The Shanghai Composite found resistance and pulled back while Emerging Markets followed everything else lower. Volatility tested last week’s low before rebounding higher. The Equity Index ETF’s started the week drifting with a downward edge, but accelerated after the Non-farm payroll report Friday, closing near the lows. What does this mean for the coming week? Lets look at some charts.

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