EUR/USD analysis: risk aversion fuels USD demand

Valeria Bednarik FXStreet

EUR/USD Current price: 1.1337

More signs of slowing growth worldwide sent investors into safety.
US employment data takes center stage ahead of the US Nonfarm Payroll report to be out Friday.

The EUR/USD pair started the day flirting with 1.1500 but ended falling to 1.1325, surpassing the previous week low before bouncing just modestly. The greenback initially fell in thinned Asian markets, but soft Chinese growth data fueled concerns about a global economic slowdown, triggering a sell-off in worldwide equities that extended into European markets. Wall Street opened sharply down but bounced from its lows putting a halt to dollar's run and helping European stocks to close with modest gains. European data didn't help as business activity fell into contraction territory in December in Italy and France according to the final Markit Manufacturing indexes, while for the whole EU, the PMI came as expected at 51.4, down from 51.8 in November, the lowest reading seen since February 2016. The same index for the US slipped to a 15-month low of 53.6, still indicating solid improvement in the US manufacturing sector.

This Thursday, the EU will release minor Money figures, with the attention shifting to US data, as the country will release the Challenger Job Cuts, the ADP private survey, and weekly unemployment claims ahead of Friday's Nonfarm Payroll report. The country will also release the official manufacturing PMI forecasted at 57.9 vs. the previous 59.3.

The pair trades a handful of pips above the mentioned low ahead of the Asian opening, bearish according to readings in the 4 hours chart, as the price has fallen below all of its moving averages, while technical indicators barely decelerated their declines once nearing oversold readings. The pair has some relevant daily lows around 1.1310, now the immediate support, with a break below it opening doors for a re-test of 2018 low at 1.1215.

Support levels: 1.1310 1.1275 1.1240

Resistance levels: 1.1345 1.1390 1.1425

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Author

Valeria Bednarik

FXStreet

Valeria Bednarik was born and lives in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Her passion for math and numbers pushed her into studying economics in her younger years.

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