The EUR/USD pair advanced modestly on Thursday but overall continues to move sideways in a familiar range as global markets fluctuate in the absence of catalysts and first-tier data. At the time of writing, the EUR/USD pair is trading at the 1.0965 area, 0.10% above its opening price.
On Thursday, the European Central Bank released the March policy meeting accounts, which revealed that most policymakers agreed to raise rates by 50 bps despite acknowledging uncertainty in the current situation. However, the minutes showed that some members would have preferred to delay the increase until financial market tensions had subsided. Other takes showed the growth projections for 2024, and 2025 were weaker than what was previously projected in December.
Meanwhile, across the pond, soft U.S. data sparked recession fears. The Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Index came in at -31.3 in April, much worse than expected. In addition, initial jobless claims for the week ended on April 14 printed 245,000, above the 240,000 expected, and the continued claims reached the highest level since November 2021 at 1.865 million in the previous week.
U.S. bond yields retreated, with the 10-year yield settling at 3.53%, the lowest in three days. Wall Street main indexes closed in the red. The S&P 500 dropped 0.60%, the Dow Jones lost 0.33%, while the Nasdaq Composite shed 0.80%.
From a technical standpoint, the EUR/USD maintains a short-term bullish bias, although indicators are exhibiting lack of momentum on the daily chart. The RSI and MACD indicators remain in positive territory but with flat slopes, while the pair trades above its main moving averages but capped below the 1.1000 mark.
The pair needs to regain the 1.1000 level to target the April monthly high of 1.1075. On the other hand, immediate support levels could be found at the 20-day SMA at around 1.0920 and 1.0900.
On Thursday, the European Central Bank released the March policy meeting accounts, which revealed that most policymakers agreed to raise rates by 50 bps despite acknowledging uncertainty in the current situation. However, the minutes showed that some members would have preferred to delay the increase until financial market tensions had subsided. Other takes showed the growth projections for 2024, and 2025 were weaker than what was previously projected in December.
Meanwhile, across the pond, soft U.S. data sparked recession fears. The Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Index came in at -31.3 in April, much worse than expected. In addition, initial jobless claims for the week ended on April 14 printed 245,000, above the 240,000 expected, and the continued claims reached the highest level since November 2021 at 1.865 million in the previous week.
U.S. bond yields retreated, with the 10-year yield settling at 3.53%, the lowest in three days. Wall Street main indexes closed in the red. The S&P 500 dropped 0.60%, the Dow Jones lost 0.33%, while the Nasdaq Composite shed 0.80%.
From a technical standpoint, the EUR/USD maintains a short-term bullish bias, although indicators are exhibiting lack of momentum on the daily chart. The RSI and MACD indicators remain in positive territory but with flat slopes, while the pair trades above its main moving averages but capped below the 1.1000 mark.
The pair needs to regain the 1.1000 level to target the April monthly high of 1.1075. On the other hand, immediate support levels could be found at the 20-day SMA at around 1.0920 and 1.0900.