EUR/USD Price Forecast: Sellers becoming more corageous

EUR/USD Current price: 1.0356

• Tepid European macroeconomic figures undermined demand for the Euro.
• The US Dollar surged despite an improved market mood as reflected by stocks.
• EUR/USD trades near its intraday low and has room to extend its slide.

The US Dollar (USD) is in recovery mode on Thursday, with EUR/USD trading in the 1.0350 region ahead of the American opening. The Greenback advanced despite a better market mood, as reflected by the positive tone of Asian and European indexes. Easing government bond yields also indicated an improved mood despite lingering trade-war uncertainty.

Data-wise, European figures were mostly discouraging. Germany published December Factory Orders, which rose 6.9% on a monthly basis but fell 6.3% from a year earlier. At the same time, Eurozone Retail Sales fell 0.2% in December, worse than the 0.1% slide anticipated by market players. Across the pond, the United States (US) published the January Challenger Job Cuts report, which showed the number of layoffs increased to 49.79K from 38.79K in the previous month.

Later in the American session, the country will release its Initial Jobless Claims for the week ended January 31 and Q4 Nonfarm Productivity and Unit Labor Cost.

EUR/USD short-term technical outlook

The daily chart for the EUR/USD pair shows it is pressuring intraday lows and poised to extend its slide. The pair is currently trading a handful of pips below a flat 20 Simple Moving Average (SMA) while the 100 and 200 SMAs head firmly south, far above the current level, in line with a continued slide. Additionally, technical indicators turned marginally lower, although the Momentum indicator holds above its 100 line, reflecting limited downward strength.

The near-term picture shows that bears are about to take control of EUR/USD. In the 4-hour chart, the pair is battling a bullish 20 SMA while trading below the 100 and 200 SMAs. Technical indicators, in the meantime, reached neutral readings, with the Momentum bouncing from the area, but the Relative Strength Index (RSI) indicator maintaining its downward slope.

Support levels:  1.0340 1.0300 1.0260

Resistance levels: 1.0400 1.0445 1.0490