EUR/USD holding close to 1.17 ahead of US Fed Powell testimony

• Tuesday brings thin market data for the Euro, pushing traders to look for Powell’s Senate testimony in the upcoming US session.
• US data due later in the day is expected to maintain the bullish growth picture for the US economy.

The EUR/USD is trading just north of the 1.1700 major technical level ahead of a Tuesday that will see market focus shift to upcoming US events with a thin calendar slated for the European session.

Tuesday brings a scheduled showing from the  US Fed’s Powell, and traders will be keeping a close eye on the central banker’s words as he testifies before the Senate Banking Committee, which is slated to start at 14:00 GMT.

The US will also be releasing the Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization figures for June, both of which are expected to improve over the previous month’s showing, forecast to come in at 0.5% and 78.3% respectively. On the EUR side, Consumer Price Index and Industrial Sales numbers for Spain are expected at 08:00 and 09:00 GMT respectively, but market impact will be minimal as traders turn their focus to Powell’s testimony.  

EUR/USD levels to watch

The EUR/USD continues to lean into the middle ground in spite of the recent bullish push, and according to FXStreet’s Chief Analyst Valeria Bednarik, “technically, the pair met sellers at around the 23.6% retracement of the April/May’s decline, which has proved strong in the past and despite the modest intraday advance, it maintains a neutral technical stance, given that in the 4 hours chart, the pair is developing a handful of pips above a congestion of moving averages, which reflects the absence of a clear directional strength, while technical indicators eased within positive territory, reflecting limited buying interest. The downside potential seems also limited, at least as long as the pair holds above the 1.1660 static support.”

Support levels: 1.1660 1.1620 1.1580

Resistance levels: 1.1720 1.1755 1.1790