EUR/USD Jan. 18 – Moving Higher in Range On New Heros

EUR/USD moves higher, still within the wide range. New hopes regarding the debt crisis push it higher, as US traders return. A busy day is ahead.  Here’s a quick update on technicals, fundamentals and community trends.

EUR/USD Technicals

• Asian session:  Began quietly, but the breakout of minor resistance happened near the end.
• Current range – 1.3334 to 1.3440



• Further levels in both directions: Below   1.3334, 1.3267, 1.3180, 1.3080, 1.2970, 1.2920,  1.28, 1.2722, 1.2587.
• Above   1.3440, 1.3576,  1.37, 1.3786,  1.3950 and 1.4030.
• 1.3440 is the key level – it has stopped the Euro so many times in the past.
• Important support is only at 1.3080, with 1.2970 being the second important line.

Euro/Dollar moving on up – click on the graph to enlarge.

EUR/USD Fundamentals –

• 10:00 German ZEW Economic Sentiment. Exp. 6.5 points.
• 10:00 All-European ZEW Economic Sentiment. Exp. 17.3 points.
• 13:30 US Empire State Manufacturing Index. Exp. 12.6 points.
• 14:00 US TIC Long-Term Purchases. Exp. 43.4 billion.
• 15:00 US NAHB Housing Market Index. Exp. 17 points.

* All times are GMT. For more events later in the week, see the EUR/USD forecast.

EUR/USD Sentiment

• The market awaits the meeting of EU finance ministers which is held today, and especially the decision if the bailout fund will be enlarged. It seems that Germany isn’t keen on adding more money, but there are different reports.
• The market was very optimistic last week, but here are 5 doubts about the Euro rally.
• The Russians now allow buying Spanish bonds – this lifts the Euro, but no the Spanish bonds.  Spanish bond yields are on the rise, reaching 5.47% today.
• A bailout for Portugal is fading away, as bond auctions were quite successful – this includes also Spain and Italy’s auctions.
• The bank holiday in the US, for Martin Luther King, means thinner volume later in the day.
• Inflation is becoming problematic for Europe. This comes as employment is still high. Double trouble for Europe. Trichet showed concerns about inflation and boosted the Euro.

Currensee Community: 62% are long , 38% are short. These are 1312 open positions in real accounts trading this pair at the moment.