EURUSD Movement
For the 24 hours to 23:00 GMT on Friday, EUR rose 0.56% against the USD and closed at 1.3271, following reports that Euro-zone Finance Ministers are moving closer to agreeing a combined rescue fund of around €700 billion next week and on positive data from France and Italy.
The Euro advanced after retail sales in Italy rose 0.7% (MoM) in January, compared to a contraction of 0.8% in December. Additionally, French business confidence climbed to 96.0 in March, compared to a revised reading of 93.0 in February. Adding to the positive tone, French government increased its economic growth forecast for 2012 to 0.7% from 0.5% and lowered its forecast for 2013 growth to 1.75% from 2.0%.
Separately, the President of the European Central Bank, Mario Draghi, stated that Greece has a chance to escape its current “downward spiral”, if it implements the “important reforms” that its Parliament has approved.
Meanwhile, the European Union (EU) commissioner for economic and monetary affairs, Olli Rehn, stated that the EU would toughen debt-crisis defences to guard against future risks. Additionally, he asked the Spanish government to push through more austerity measures.
In the Asian session, at GMT0300, the pair is trading at 1.3266, with the EUR trading 0.03% lower from Friday’s close.
The pair is expected to find support at 1.3207, and a fall through could take it to the next support level of 1.3148. The pair is expected to find its first resistance at 1.3310, and a rise through could take it to the next resistance level of 1.3353.
Trading trends in the pair today are expected to be determined by the release of business climate and current assessment data in Germany and consumer confidence data in Italy.
The currency pair is trading above its 20 Hr and 50 Hr moving averages.
