EUR/USD up smalls above 1.1700 ahead of ECB minutes

After bottoming out in the 1.1680/75 band on Wednesday, EUR/USD met some buying interest and has now managed to regain the 1.1700 mark and above.

EUR/USD now looks to ECB

The pair trades with decent gains during the second half of the week, although it is still submerged into the broader bearish picture that saw a drop to fresh multi-month lows near 1.1675 yesterday.

The greenback is now a tad offered around the 93.80 region after recording tops near 94.20 on Wednesday, levels last seen in mid-December 2017.

Spot paid little attention to the release of the FOMC minutes on Wednesday, where the Committee noted that a temporary overshooting of the Fed’s inflation target would be in line with the symmetric inflation objective.

In the data space, German Q1 GDP figures showed the economy expanded 0.3% inter-quarter and 1.6% YoY, matching estimates. Later in the day, the ECB will publish its minutes from the April meeting, although it is worth recalling that President Draghi noted during his press conference that the Council did not discuss monetary policy, so the impact on FX could be limited.

Across the pond, the usual weekly report on the US labour market is due along with Existing Home Sales and the speech by NY Fed W.Dudley (permanent voter, centrist).

EUR/USD levels to watch

At the moment, the pair is up 0.08% at 1.1705 facing the next up barrier at 1.1829 (high May 22) seconded by 1.1808 (10-day sma) and finally 1.1897 (21-day sma). On the flip side, a break below 1.1676 (2018 low May 23) would target 1.1668 (low Oct.8 2017) en route to 1.1659 (monthly low Oct. 27 2017).