The FOMC minutes have revealed nothing fundamentally new. On the contrary, the overall picture of the minutes appeared somewhat dovish as the decision to raise interest rates was a "close call" among policymakers. While many Fed officials are confident that inflation would rise in the long-run, others expressed concerns about too-low inflation. Despite the committee's unanimity to begin the policy normalization process, the expectations between Fed officials and the market regarding the future tightening path are diverging. Fed Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer said policymakers predict an estimated four interest increases throughout this year, while market participants believe that the Fed could disappoint with only two rate hikes.
Whatever the case, the U.S. dollar received no sustained support from U.S. economic data, whereupon the euro recovered some losses and climbed back above 1.08. Despite a strong uptick in ADP data, the greenback was not able to extend its gains against the euro. The British pound bounced off the 1.46-barrier but still remained below the 1.4650-hurdle this morning. We will therefore closely monitor the 1.4645-level. Once this level is breached on the upside, we could see sterling heading towards 1.4690 and 1.4725. Fresh bearish momentum may increase with a break below 1.46. A next support could be at 1.4565/55.
The euro might have difficulty breaking above 1.0840, where we see a next resistance. For euro bulls it might be smart to wait until prices exceed the 1.0860 level. On the bottom side, we see a current support at 1.0780/75, which should be significantly breached in order to sell EUR/USD towards 1.07.
There are no major important economic data releases today. Second-tier data such as Eurozone Retail Sales and U.S. Jobless Claims could only have a limited impact on the currencies.
Here are our daily signal alerts:
EUR/USD
Long at 1.0830 SL 25 TP 20, 40
Short at 1.0760 SL 25 TP 25, 40
GBP/USD
Long at 1.4673 SL 25 TP 20, 50
Short at 1.4620 SL 25 TP 50
We wish you good trades and many pips!
Any and all liability of the author is excluded.