EUR/USD clings to gains above 1.1100 ahead of Fed policy decision

EUR/USD holds gains above 1.1100 as the US Dollar remains under pressure ahead of the Fed’s policy decision at 18:00 GMT.
Traders seem more confident that the Fed will reduce interest rates by 50 basis points.
ECB’s Villeroy sees the policy-easing cycle continuing further.

EUR/USD remains firm at the US Dollar’s expense as the Euro (EUR) is underperforming against other major peers on Wednesday. The Euro faces pressure amid growing uncertainty over the European Central Bank’s (ECB) interest-rate path and the Eurozone’s economic performance.

ECB officials seem split over the interest rate-cut path due to diverging opinions over the inflation outlook. On Friday, the comments from ECB Governing Council member and Bank of France President, François Villeroy de Galhau indicated that more rate cuts are needed to avoid the risk of inflation coming in too low despite a dovish decision on Thursday. In Wednesday’s Asian session, Villeroy said the ECB “is likely to continue to cut rates.”

On the contrary, ECB Governing Council member Peter Kazimir said on Monday in a blog post: “We will almost surely need to wait until December for a clearer picture before making our next move,” Reuters reported. Kazimir emphasized the need to be certain that price pressures continue to decline as projected, “otherwise policymakers might regret rushing to cut borrowing costs before inflation has been sustainably defeated”, he said.

Financial market participants expect that the ECB will deliver one more interest rate cut in one of its remaining meetings of the year, either in October or December.

In the Eurozone calendar, Eurostat will publish at 09:00 GMT the final reading of the Harmonized Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) for August. Economists expect the figures to be aligned with the preliminary estimates, with annual headline inflation at 2.2% and core inflation at 2.8%.

Euro PRICE Today

The table below shows the percentage change of Euro (EUR) against listed major currencies today. Euro was the strongest against the US Dollar.

	EUR	USD	GBP	JPY	CAD	AUD	NZD	CHF
EUR		0.20%	-0.28%	-0.38%	0.11%	-0.23%	-0.48%	-0.33%
USD	-0.20%		-0.46%	-0.55%	-0.10%	-0.45%	-0.67%	-0.53%
GBP	0.28%	0.46%		-0.07%	0.38%	0.04%	-0.21%	-0.03%
JPY	0.38%	0.55%	0.07%		0.46%	0.12%	-0.10%	0.06%
CAD	-0.11%	0.10%	-0.38%	-0.46%		-0.35%	-0.58%	-0.40%
AUD	0.23%	0.45%	-0.04%	-0.12%	0.35%		-0.22%	-0.06%
NZD	0.48%	0.67%	0.21%	0.10%	0.58%	0.22%		0.16%
CHF	0.33%	0.53%	0.03%	-0.06%	0.40%	0.06%	-0.16%

The heat map shows percentage changes of major currencies against each other. The base currency is picked from the left column, while the quote currency is picked from the top row. For example, if you pick the Euro from the left column and move along the horizontal line to the US Dollar, the percentage change displayed in the box will represent EUR (base)/USD (quote).

Daily digest market movers: EUR/USD gains as US Dollar slumps

EUR/USD steadies above 1.1100 in Wednesday’s European session ahead of the Federal Reserve’s (Fed) monetary policy announcement at 18:00 GMT. The major currency pair gains as the US Dollar (USD) remains under pressure as the Fed is poised to deliver its first interest rate cut in more than four years.
The US Dollar Index (DXY), which tracks the Greenback’s value against six major currencies, struggles to hold its recovery to near 101.00, a rebound fuelled by better-than-expected United States (US) monthly Retail Sales data for August.
The confidence of market participants that the Fed will start the policy-easing cycle aggressively has increased as officials said they remain concerned over a slowdown in job growth. Also, they are confident that inflation is declining towards the bank’s target of 2%.
According to the CME FedWatch tool, 30-day Federal Funds Futures pricing data shows that the probability of the central bank cutting rates by 50 basis points (bps) to 4.75%-5.00% is at 65%, while the rest favors a 25-bps rate cut.
In addition to the Fed’s decision itself, the US Dollar will also be influenced by the Fed’s dot plot, economic projections, and the press conference of Fed Chair Jerome Powell, which will provide fresh guidance on interest rates. The Fed’s dot plot indicates where policymakers see the federal fund rate heading in the medium and long term.

Technical Analysis: EUR/USD recovers to near 1.1130

EUR/USD steadies above 1.1100 in European trading hours. The major currency pair strengthened after retesting the breakout of the Rising Channel chart pattern formed on a daily time frame near the psychological support of 1.1000. The near-term outlook of the major currency pair has strengthened as the asset steadies above the 20-day Exponential Moving Average (EMA), which trades around 1.1060.

The 14-day Relative Strength Index (RSI) moves higher to near 60.00. A bullish momentum would trigger if it sustains above the aforementioned level.

Looking up, the high of 1.1155 from September 6 and the round-level resistance of 1.1200 will act as major barricades for the Euro bulls. On the downside, the psychological level of 1.1000 and the July 17 high near 1.0950 will be major support zones.

Economic Indicator

Fed Interest Rate Decision

The Federal Reserve (Fed) deliberates on monetary policy and makes a decision on interest rates at eight pre-scheduled meetings per year. It has two mandates: to keep inflation at 2%, and to maintain full employment. Its main tool for achieving this is by setting interest rates – both at which it lends to banks and banks lend to each other. If it decides to hike rates, the US Dollar (USD) tends to strengthen as it attracts more foreign capital inflows. If it cuts rates, it tends to weaken the USD as capital drains out to countries offering higher returns. If rates are left unchanged, attention turns to the tone of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) statement, and whether it is hawkish (expectant of higher future interest rates), or dovish (expectant of lower future rates).