EUR/USD Settles Higher Ahead Of Eurogroup Meeting

The pair settled higher, ahead of the key Eurogroup meeting on Tuesday, when the full Troika report on Greece is set to be presented to lawmakers. On that note, Germany's Bundesbank said that further Greek aid is not the task of ECB and that German economic outlook to worsen as year ends.

The pair also benefited from reports that the final amount of the financial assistance provided by Europe for Spanish banks will be EUR 30bln - EUR 33bln after the government initially announced EUR 40bln would be needed. In terms of technical levels, supports are seen at 1.2691/62 and then at the 100DMA line at 1.2650. On the other hand, resistance levels are seen at the 200DMA level at 1.2807 and then at the 21DMA line at 1.2848.

GBP/USD
The pair settled higher on Monday, but failed to benefit from a weaker USD to the same extent as EUR/USD, as market participants scrutinised comments from BoE’s Miles who said there was more scope for QE and there is more the BoE can do. This is of particular important given that the central bank is due to release the most recent monetary policy meeting minutes later on this week.

In other UK related news, while the latest UK Rightmove House Price Index came in below the previous, Rightmove said that the fall was the least severe seen in November for three years. A buoyant London property market said to have helped cushion the blow in what is traditionally a quiet time of year for buying activity. In terms of technical levels, supports are seen at the 200DMA line at 1.5852 and then at the 21DMA lower Bollinger line at 1.5803. On the other hand, resistance levels are seen at the 21DMA line at 1.5987 and then at 1.6020.

USD/JPY
Further profit taking ahead of the key Bank of Japan rate decision tomorrow saw the pair finish the session in minor negative territory. Still, the pair hit a seven month high of 81.60 overnight and the trend higher is set to continue as Abe is widely expected to press on the BoJ to ease monetary policy further. In terms of technical levels, supports are seen at 80.68/33 and then at 80.00. On the other hand, resistance levels are seen at 81.59/71 and then at 82.00.