For the 24 hours to 23:00 GMT, the EUR rose 0.33% against the USD and closed at 1.1940.
Yesterday, the European Central Bank (ECB), in its economic bulletin report, stated that the Euro-bloc’s economic expansion continues to be solid and broad-based and the region is expected to sustain its nascent growth into next year. Further, the central bank expects underlying inflation in the single currency region to pick up gradually and reiterated that the solid recovery still requires monetary policy stimulus to bring inflation to the target in a sustainable way.
The US Dollar fell against a basket of major currencies, following a pair of downbeat economic reports in the US.
Data revealed that advance goods trade deficit unexpectedly widened to $69.7 billion in November, hitting its highest level since March 2015, reigniting worries that trade could act as a drag on the nation’s fourth-quarter growth. The advance goods trade deficit had recorded a revised level of $68.1 billion in the prior month, while markets were anticipating it to narrow to $67.9 billion. Moreover, the number of Americans filing for fresh jobless claims surprisingly remained steady at a level of 245.0K in the week ended 23 December, defying market expectations for a fall to a level of 240.0K.
Other data revealed that the US Chicago Fed purchasing managers index (PMI) surprised with an unexpected rise to a level of 67.6 in December, confounding market consensus for a fall to a level of 62.0. The index had recorded a reading of 63.9 in the previous month.
In the Asian session, at GMT0400, the pair is trading at 1.1943, with the EUR trading marginally higher against the USD from yesterday’s close.
The pair is expected to find support at 1.1914, and a fall through could take it to the next support level of 1.1886. The pair is expected to find its first resistance at 1.1965, and a rise through could take it to the next resistance level of 1.1988.
Trading trend in the Euro today is expected to be determined by the release of Germany’s flash consumer price index (CPI) for December, slated to release in a few hours.
The currency pair is showing convergence with its 20 Hr moving average and trading above its 50 Hr moving average.