Forex - EUR/USD weekly outlook: June 23 - 27

Euro ends week higher against softer dollar

Investing.com - The dollar inched higher against the euro on Friday, but still ended the week lower after the Federal Reserve indicated that its isn’t going to raise interest rates for a long period of time.

EUR/USD dipped 0.06% to 1.3598 late Friday, but posted a weekly gain of 0.47%.

The pair is likely to find support at 1.3540 and resistance at 1.3650.

The greenback remained under pressure after the Fed gave no indication of when interest rates could start to rise at the conclusion of its two-day meeting on Wednesday. In addition, the Fed’s forecast of where interest rates might reach in the long term fell from 4% to 3.75%.

The central bank cut its bond purchases by $10 billion a month, to $35 billion, saying there was "sufficient underlying strength" in the U.S. economy to continue tapering.

Despite this, the Fed also lowered its forecast for growth this year to a range of 2.1% to 2.3% from 2.8 to 3.0% previously, due to "unexpected contractions" in the first quarter as a result of the unusually harsh winter.

The Fed acknowledged the recent increases in inflation and drop in unemployment, but Chair Janet Yellen said no formula was in place for when interest rates would start to rise.

Elsewhere, the euro ended the week higher against the yen, with EUR/JPY ending Friday’s session at 138.84, for a weekly gain of 0.59%.

The US Dollar Index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, edged up to 80.41 late Friday from lows of 80.24 on Thursday. For the week, the index lost almost 0.3%.

In the coming week, the U.S. is to release data on consumer confidence, durable goods orders and home sales. Flash estimates on euro zone private sector activity will also be closely watched.

Ahead of the coming week, Investing.com has compiled a list of these and other significant events likely to affect the markets.

Monday, June 23

The euro zone is to release data on manufacturing and service sector activity, while Germany and France are to release individual reports.

The U.S. is to release preliminary data on manufacturing activity and private sector data on existing home sales.

Tuesday, June 24

In the euro zone, the Ifo Institute is to publish data on German business climate.

The U.S. is to release private sector data on consumer confidence, as well as a report on new home sales.

Wednesday, June 25

Market research group Gfk is to publish a report on German consumer climate.

The U.S. is to publish data on durable goods orders, as well as revised data on first quarter growth.

Thursday, June 26

The U.S. is to release data on personal income and expenditure, as well as data on inflation linked to personal spending.

Friday, June 27

In the euro zone, Germany and Spain are to release preliminary data on consumer price inflation, while France is to publish data on consumer spending.

The U.S. is to round up the week with revised data on consumer sentiment from the University of Michigan.