EUR/USD Aug 26 – Staying in Range Before Bernanke

Euro dollar  remains in a tight range before the highly anticipated speech by Ben Bernanke in Jackson Hole. Will Bernanke trigger a breakout? We have quite a few events to end the week with.

Here’s a quick update on technicals, fundamentals and what’s going on in the markets.

EUR/USD Technicals

• Asian session: Range trading continued, with the pair edging higher.
• Current range 1.4350 to 1.4450.

• Further levels in both directions: Below 1.4350, 1.4282, 1.4220, 1.4160, 1.4070, 1.4030.
• Above:  1.4450, 1.4520, 1.4650, 1.47, 1.4775, 1.4882, 1.4940
• The 1.4450 line is weaker now, and serves as a pivotal point. 1.4520 is important resistance.
• 1.4282 is significant support on the downside.

Euro/Dollar staying high  – click on the graph to enlarge.

EUR/USD Fundamentals

• 6:00  German Import Prices. Exp. +0.2%. Actual +0.8%.
• 8:00 European M3 Money Supply. Exp. +2.2%. Actual 2%.
• 12:30 US GDP (second release). Exp. downwards revision to 1.1%.
• 13:55 US Revised Consumer Sentiment. Exp. 56.2 points.
• 14:00 Ben Bernanke talks in Jackson Hole.  

* All times are GMT.

For more events later in the week, see the Euro to dollar forecast

EUR/USD Sentiment

• Bernanke awaited: Tension is growing towards the speech of Ben Bernanke in Jackson Hole. Some expect him to hint about QE3 in order to stop the falls in stock markets, although this can harm the economy at this time.. Here are  7 scenarios for the Jackson Hole speech, with outcomes for the greenback. Another opinion: Ben ponders another helicopter drop.
  
• Sentiment lower in Germany: Both the usually optimistic IFO and the usually pessimistic ZEW indices showed growing worries in Europe’s powerhouse.
• Greek bailout questioned: Finland demands collateral from Greece in order to participate in the bailout. This is causing headaches across the continent, as other countries want the same deal. It seems that this may be waning off.
• ECB  Sterilizes Bond Buying  :  The  ECB continues keeping yields down. The ECB already spent above 26 billion euros in the current round of buying Italian and Spanish bonds. It has managed to drain this money from the markets today. Sterilized actions are positive for the currency.