EURUSD Movement
For the 24 hours to 23:00 GMT, EUR rose 1.68% against the USD and closed at 1.3273, after the European Central Bank (ECB) left its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 0.75% in January, in line with market expectations, following the meeting of the Governing Council in Frankfurt. The central bank also maintained its deposit rate at zero and the marginal lending facility rate at 1.50% in January.
Later, the European Central Bank (ECB) President Mario Draghi stated that the euro area may see a gradual recovery later in the year as there are some modest signs of stabilization.
The Euro’s gain was further bolstered by Spain’s bond auction, wherein the Spanish Treasury sold €5.8 billion worth of debt, above the targeted amount of €5 billion, with the yield on five-year bonds down to 3.99% from 4.20% at an auction last week.
On the economic front, the French Harmonized Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) rose at an annual rate of1.5% in December, compared to a 1.6% rise in November. On a monthly basis, the HICP rose 0.4% in December, compared to a 0.2% drop in November.
Separately, industrial production in France rose 0.5% (MoM) in November, following a revised 0.6% decline recorded in October.
In US economic news, initial jobless claims for the week ended 5 January 2013, rose by 4,000 to 371,000, compared to the previous week’s revised figure of 367,000. However, continuing claims for the week ended 29 December 2012, declined to 3.109 million, compared to the preceding week’s revised level of 3.236 million.
Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis President, James Bullard forecasted US economic growth of 3.2% for this year and for 2014, attributing in part the central bank’s recent policy easing. He also expressed doubts over tying the central bank’s $85 billion monthly bond purchases to numerical levels of unemployment and inflation.
In the Asian session, at GMT0400, the pair is trading at 1.326, with the EUR trading 0.10% lower from yesterday’s close.
The pair is expected to find support at 1.3108, and a fall through could take it to the next support level of 1.2957. The pair is expected to find its first resistance at 1.3345, and a rise through could take it to the next resistance level of 1.3431.
In the US investors await the trade balance and monthly budget statement data.
The currency pair is trading above its 20 Hr and 50 Hr moving averages.
