EURUSD Movement
For the 24 hours to 23:00 GMT, EUR declined 0.92% against the USD and closed at 1.3273, after the minutes of the Federal Reserve’s latest monetary policy meeting, indicated that monetary authorities are growing more divided as to when to wind down stimulus measures.
The minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee’s (FOMC) latest monetary policy meeting revealed that many policymakers were worried about the costs and risks in continuing with monetary easing and were divided over the future course of the bond purchase program.
Moreover, the producer price index (PPI) in the US rose 1.5% in January, following a 1.3% growth in the previous month and building permits rose 1.8% (MoM) to an annual rate of 925K in January, the highest level since June of 2008 and from the revised rate of 909K in December. However, housing starts plunged 8.5% (MoM) to an annualized rate of 890K in January, from an upwardly revised estimate of 973K in December.
Separately, in Germany, the harmonized index of consumer prices (HICP) rose 1.9% annually in January, compared to a 2.0% rise in December. Moreover, the consumer price inflation eased to 1.7% annually in January, from a rate of 2.1% in December. Also, on a monthly basis, consumer prices fell 0.5% in January, following a 0.9% gain in December.
In France, HICP rose 1.4% annually in January, compared to a 1.5% rise in December. Additionally, business sentiment in France improved to a reading of 90.0 in February, from a reading of 87.0 in January.
In the Asian session, at GMT0400, the pair is trading at 1.3266, with the EUR trading marginally lower from yesterday’s close.
The pair is expected to find support at 1.3203, and a fall through could take it to the next support level of 1.3140. The pair is expected to find its first resistance at 1.3381, and a rise through could take it to the next resistance level of 1.3496.
Amidst a string of economic releases in Europe, services and manufacturing PMI in France, Germany and the Euro-zone are keenly eyed by investors. Separately, the CPI data and the initial jobless claims are awaited in the US.
The currency pair is trading below its 20 Hr and 50 Hr moving averages.
