Ahead of ECB and BOE Rate Decisions
EUR/USD is trying to stay over 1.3400 during the Asian session on hopes the European leaders will make comprehensive and permanent decisions to end ongoing debt crisis and protect eurozone members from risks of contagion. Though, forex investors are cautious ahead of key events in Europe.
Another factor affecting EUR is the ECB meeting of course. The European Central Bank will announce its interest rate decision at 12:45 GMT. Majority of economists believe that ECB policymakers will cut the benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points to 1%. ECB may offer long-term loans and loosen collateral criteria in order to supply access to cheap cash for banks.
Meanwhile, pressure on the European leaders to act swiftly has increased lately. Eurozone nations are expected to vote on Friday on an agreement to tighten fiscal controls for member nation. Director of floor operations for Sunrise Securities, Ben Willis said “We are in a holding mode waiting to see if they can actually herd the kittens in the EU to come to something. All we are looking for is progress, we are not looking for anything perfect, we are not looking for the ultimate solution”.
Today we see that the Asian stock markets opened slightly lower as investors turned cautious ahead of key events in Europe. NIKKEI started the day at 8,664.35, previous close was 8,722.17. HANG SENG opened at 19,091.12, previous close was 19,240.58. Chief strategist at Ichiyoshi Investment, Mitsushige Akino said “Investors can’t buy or sell until they see the results of the European meetings. Stocks have been rising on expectations the European Union and the European Central Bank may take some action, but now investors need to see whether the results meet or beat expectations”.
EUR/USD is trading at 1.3400 by the time of typing and for today resistances are located at 1.3458 and 1.3561. Support levels are 1.3356 and 1.3254.
GBP/USD is at 1.5706. Resistance levels are located at 1.5754 and 1.5801. Supports are located at 1.5627 and 1.5546.
USD/CHF is trading at 0.9243 by the time of typing and for today resistances are located at 0.9300 and 0.9332. Support levels are 0.9210 and 0.9149.
AUD/USD is trading at 1.0254. Resistances are located at 1.0320 and 1.0400. Support levels are 1.0200 and 1.0165.
There are plenty of very important economic data releases today so we expect high volatility in the forex market. French Final Non-Farm Payrolls data will be released at 06:30 GMT.
Reserve Bank of Australia Governor Glenn Stevens is going to speak at a press conference at 07:20 GMT.
Bank of England, Monetary Policy Committee statement will be released at 12:00 GMT. ECB Interest Rate statement is due at 13:30 GMT.
Statistics Canada will release New Housing Price Index data at 13:30 GMT. ECB Press Conference will start at 13:30 GMT. U.S. Unemployment Claims figures will be released at 13:30 GMT.
Comments