For the 24 hours to 23:00 GMT on Friday, EUR rose 0.37% against the USD and closed at 1.3663, as investor risk appetite increased after the US non-farm payroll employment rose by 157,000 jobs in January, the consumer sentiment index climbed to a reading of 73.8 in January and the manufacturing activity expanded for the second straight month in January. Moreover, the New York Fed President, William Dudley, stated that the international economy is better than it was six months ago, which is positive for the US. He pointed to improvements in the economies of Europe, China and Japan as proof that the global situation is “gradually” improving.
Separately, in the Euro-zone, final manufacturing PMI rose to 47.9 in January, from a reading of 46.1 in December. The unemployment rate stood steady at 11.7% in December, following the downwardly revised rate of 11.7% in November. Meanwhile, annual inflation eased to 2.0% in January, from 2.2% in December.
Separately, Germany’s seasonally adjusted manufacturing PMI rose to a reading of 49.8 in January, from a reading of 46.0 in December.
In the Asian session, at GMT0400, the pair is trading at 1.3621, with the EUR trading 0.31% lower from Friday’s close.
The pair is expected to find support at 1.3567, and a fall through could take it to the next support level of 1.3512. The pair is expected to find its first resistance at 1.3694, and a rise through could take it to the next resistance level of 1.3766.
Euro-zone economic releases later today include the Sentix investor confidence and the producer price index data, while in the US, December factory orders are awaited.
The currency pair is trading between its 20 Hr and 50 Hr moving averages.