It’s decision day at the European Central Bank and traders in all EUR crosses brace for heightened volatility at this highly anticipated event that will bring forth news on the pace of the ECB’s quantitative easing program (QE). The euro traded higher against the U.S. dollar ahead of today’s announcement since the ECB is expected to announce a reduction in the size of its monthly bond buying. While this expectation alone is considered euro-positive, the devil is in the details. There are a number of possible scenarios while the best (but most unlikely) scenario for the euro would be a reduction of EUR40 billion bonds buys until September 2018. The most likely scenario is however a taper of 30 billion euros with a nine-month extension of the QE program. Since the latter scenario is already largely priced in the euro’s price development, the risk is tilted to the downside if the ECB fails to surprise the market. Bearing in mind that ECB policy makers want to avoid a too strong euro they need to be careful in their statement. If the market senses a more cautious approach towards monetary policy normalization or in the case of a reduction of only EUR20 billion bond buys per month, the euro could fall.
Whatever the case, the good news is that ECB President Mario Draghi can be expected to emphasize that the Eurozone economy is in a good shape and probably capable to withstand tighter monetary policy over the medium-term.
The ECB’s decision will be announced at 11:45 UTC and Draghi will speak 45 minutes later.
EUR/USD
The euro currently trades around the resistance line of its recent downtrend channel near 1.1840. If the euro breaks above this barrier, the focus will shift to the 1.19-level. A sustained break above 1.1915 is needed to encourage euro bulls for a run for 1.20 or 1.21. If 1.19 however holds, particular focus remains on the 1.17-support. A renewed break below 1.1680 and 1.1650 could send the euro towards 1.1580.
The British pound rose on upbeat U.K. GDP data that bolstered the case for a Bank of England rate hike next week.
From a technical point of view, the primary uptrend channel finally proved correct and suggests that we may see further gains towards 1.33 and 1.3350. A break above 1.3365 would brighten the bullish outlook. A current support is however seen at 1.3150.
Here are our daily signal alerts:
EUR/USD
Long at 1.1840 SL 25 TP 20, 40
Short at 1.1785 SL 25 TP 30, 60
GBP/USD
Long at 1.3280 SL 25 TP 20, 40
Short at 1.3225 SL 25 TP 20, 40
We wish you good trades and many pips!
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