Investing.com -- EUR/USD fell sharply on Tuesday posting its fourth straight losing session, ahead of appearances by Mario Draghi and Janet Yellen later this week, which could provide further indications of a divergence in monetary policy between two of the world's largest central banks.
The currency pair wavered between a low of 1.1114 and a high of 1.1207 before settling at 1.1132, down 0.0058 or 0.51% on the session. Following an eight-session winning streak earlier this month, EUR/USD has now closed lower in six of the last eight sessions. More broadly, the euro has lost about 2% in value against its American counterpart over the last month of trading.
EUR/USD likely gained support at 1.1086, the low from September 3 and was met with resistance at 1.1713, the high from Aug. 24.
Investors await a highly-anticipated appearance by European Central Bank president Mario Draghi on Wednesday before the European Parliament's Committee on Economic and Monetary Affair for hints on whether the ECB could extend its comprehensive EUR 1.1 trillion quantitative easing program. It will come days after ECB Chief Economist Peter Praet suggested that persistent weaknesses in the global economy could prompt the central bank to introduce further stimulus measures to boost economic activity throughout the euro zone. Yellen, meanwhile, will make her first public appearance since the Fed opted to hold short-term interest rates at its current near-zero level last week, when she delivers a speech at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.
A host of Fed governors continue to reiterate that a 2015 rate hike is on the table in the wake of last week's policy action. The U.S. central bank has left its benchmark Federal Funds Rate at record lows since December, 2008 in an effort to stimulate a dormant economy reeling from the Financial Crisis. Nearly a decade has passed since the FOMC last tightened its monetary policy by instituting a rate hike.
Over the weekend, though, San Francisco Fed president John Williams acknowledged that the Fed's decision on whether to normalize policy was a "tough one," while providing indications that its next step could be to raise rates gradually if inflation moves upward in the coming weeks. At the FOMC's September policy meeting, 13 of its 17 members predicted that the committee will raise short-term rate by at least 0.25% at some point this year.
Then, on Monday, Atlanta Fed president Dennis Lockhart told reporters that he saw "few significant risks," in waiting to raise rates, while adding that a rate hike before New Year's is still possible. It came hours after St. Louis Fed president James Bullard strongly opposed a dovish stance toward a delayed hike, telling CNBC that he would have dissented from last week's decision if he had a vote.
Elsewhere, the euro area's Consumer Confidence Flash Index decreased 0.2 to -7.1 in September, significantly below consensus estimates of a -7.0 reading. Consumer confidence waned during the month, amid widespread concerns related to a slowing global economy and the European refugee crisis.
The U.S. Dollar Index, which measures the strength of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, surged more than 0.6% to an intraday high of 96.58, its highest level in nearly two weeks.