EUR/USD – Euro Quiet After Christmas Day Break

The euro has ticked lower in the Tuesday session. Currently, EUR/USD is trading at 1.1857, down 0.04% on the day. In economic news, it’s a quiet start to the week. There are no eurozone events on the calendar. The US will release Richmond Manufacturing Index, which is expected to slow to 22 points. On Wednesday, there are two key US indicators – CB Consumer Confidence and Pending Home Sales.

US numbers ended the week with a host of events, but the results were mixed, leaving EUR/USD unchanged on Friday. Core Durable Goods Orders declined 0.1%, missing the estimate of +0.5%. This marked the first decline since May. Durable Goods Orders rebounded with a gain of 1.3%, but this was well short of the estimate of 2.1%. Consumer confidence slowed to 95.9, shy of the estimate of 97.1 points. On the positive side, Personal Spending improved to 0.6%, edging above the estimate of 0.5%. As well, New Home Sales jumped to 733 thousand, crushing above the estimate of 654 thousand. This was the highest reading since September 2007.

The week of Christmas will be light on fundamentals, with only a handful of economic indicators. On Friday, Germany releases Final CPI, with the markets forecasting a strong gain of 0.5%. If Final CPI meets or exceeds the estimate, the euro should gain some ground against the US dollar. In November, the indicator improved to 0.3%, marking a 4-month high. In the eurozone, annual average inflation also inched higher to 1.5% in November, up from 1.4% in October. This marked a multi-year high. Still, inflation remains well below the ECB target of just below 2.0%, and ECB policymakers are unlikely to announce an end to their stimulus package until inflation moves closer to the 2.0% target.

 

EUR/USD Fundamentals

Tuesday (December 26)

  • 9:00 US S&P/CS Composite-20 HPI. Estimate 6.3%
  • 10:00 US Richmond Manufacturing Index. Estimate 22

Wednesday (December 27)

  • 10:00 US CB Consumer Confidence. Estimate 128.2
  • 10:00 US Pending Home Sales. Estimate -0.4%

*All release times are GMT

*Key events are in bold

 

EUR/USD for Tuesday, December 26, 2017

EUR/USD for December 26 at 5:30 EDT

Open: 1.1862 High: 1.1876 Low: 1.1855 Close: 1.1857

EUR/USD Technical

S1 S2 S1 R1 R2 R3
1.1574 1.1657 1.1777 1.1876 1.1961 1.2092

EUR/USD was flat in the Asian and has inched lower in European trade

  • 1.1777 is providing support
  • 1.1876 is a weak resistance line and could be tested in the Tuesday session

Further levels in both directions:

  • Below: 1.1777, 1.1657 and 1.1574
  • Above: 1.1876, 1.1961, 1.2092 and 1.2221
  • Current range: 1.1777 to 1.1876

OANDA’s Open Positions Ratio

In the Tuesday session, EUR/USD is showing short positions with a majority (61%). This is indicative of EUR/USD continuing to move downwards.

This article is for general information purposes only. It is not investment advice or a solution to buy or sell securities. Opinions are the authors; not necessarily that of OANDA Corporation or any of its affiliates, subsidiaries, officers or directors. Leveraged trading is high risk and not suitable for all. You could lose all of your deposited funds.

Kenny Fisher

Kenny Fisher

Market Analyst at OANDA
A highly experienced financial market analyst with a focus on fundamental and macroeconomic analysis, Kenny Fisher’s daily commentary covers a broad range of markets including forex, equities and commodities. His work has been published in major online financial publications including Investing.com, Seeking Alpha and FXStreet. Kenny has been a MarketPulse contributor since 2012.