In the last 24 hours the Euro has retreated heavily from above 1.34 after having reached a six month high in the last couple of days. It finished last week just easing away from the long term resistance level at 1.34 but earlier this week it made another run up towards the resistance level at 1.34 however yet again it was turned away just shy around 1.3380. A couple of weeks ago it spent about a week drifting lower from the resistance level at 1.34 back towards the previous resistance level of 1.33. This level provided very little support for the Euro as it continued to move down strongly towards 1.3230 before consolidating recently above the support level at 1.3250. A couple of weeks ago it was able to push up through the 1.33 resistance level and continue on to touch 1.34 and reach a seven week high before easing back. Prior to that period, for a couple of weeks the Euro established and traded within a narrow range between two key levels of 1.32 and 1.33 as it continued to place pressure on the latter. During those couple of weeks as the resistance level at 1.33 stood firm, the Euro found solid support right around 1.3250 as well.
A few weeks ago it surged higher to reach a new one month high just shy of 1.3350 however it continued to meet stiff resistance at 1.33 during this period. In the week prior to the recent consolidation period between 1.32 and 1.33, the Euro enjoyed a healthy and steady rally towards the resistance level at 1.32 and finally made its way through culminating in its recent push higher. About a month ago the Euro was content to maintain the level above 1.31 and settle there, as it received solid support from both 1.30 and 1.31. On a couple of occasions it made an attempt to move within reach of the longer term resistance level at 1.32 and finally it finds itself trading on the other side of this level and being well established there. It has been some time since the Euro has experienced a 24 hour period with as much range as the period earlier in July when it surged higher from from below 1.28 up to above 1.32. Prior to that jump, the Euro had been in a very solid medium term down trend after succumbing to the resistance at 1.29 and moving down below the key long term level of 1.28. This resulted in it trading at a multi-year low near 1.2750. After reaching a four month high above 1.34 about seven weeks ago, the EUR/USD was in the midst of a very solid medium term down trend which has seen it fall sharply.
It was only a month or so ago that the 1.30 level was standing up and proving itself to be a brick wall of support, and even though it failed a couple of weeks ago leading to the new lows, it has since been called upon again to offer support over the last couple of weeks. Throughout May and most of June the Euro surged higher to a four month high above 1.34. Before that in the first half of May, the Euro fell considerably from near 1.32 down to six week lows near 1.28. Back at the beginning of April the Euro received solid support around 1.28 and this level was called upon to provide additional support. Throughout this year the Euro has moved very strongly in both directions. Throughout February and March the Euro fell sharply from around 1.37 down to its lowest level since the middle of November around 1.2750. Sentiment has completely changed with the Euro over the last few weeks and the last couple of months has seen a rollercoaster ride for the Euro as it continued to move strongly towards 1.34 before falling very sharply to below 1.29 and setting a 6 week low.
Large firms in Europe are losing over 130,000 jobs each year in IT, finance and other areas, as jobs are increasingly offshored to cheaper locations, meaning that by 2017, some 1.9 million European jobs will have disappeared, according to new report. Offshoring, combined with technological advances that can replace jobs, and the euro zone’s low-growth business environment, could result in the loss of half of all “back office” jobs that existed in Europe in 2002, according to a report by consulting firm The Hackett Group. Of the roughly 4.2 million business services jobs that existed in Europe in 2002, 46 per cent, or 1.9 million, will have disappeared by 2017. 
EUR/USD August 21 at 22:05 GMT 1.3354 H: 1.3424 L: 1.3335
During the early hours of the Asian trading session on Thursday, the Euro is consolidating a little above a short term support level at 1.3350 after having fallen sharply from above the key 1.34 level. Since the middle of June, the Euro has generally fallen sharply from new highs above 1.34, and has been looking to return back to the significant lows around 1.2800, however in the last month or so it has recovered well and moved back to above 1.34 again. Current range: trading right above 1.3350.
Further levels in both directions:
• Below: 1.3200, 1.3150 and 1.3000.
• Above: 1.3400.
(Shows the ratio of long vs. short positions held for the EUR/USD among all OANDA clients. The left percentage (blue) shows long positions; the right percentage (orange) shows short positions.)
The EUR/USD long position ratio has remained below 30% as the Euro has surged through 1.34. The trader sentiment remains strongly in favour of short positions.
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