When are the US durable goods orders and how could they affect EUR/USD?

US durable goods orders overview

Wednesday's US economic docket highlights the release of durable goods orders data for February. The US Census Bureau is scheduled to release the monthly report at 12:30 GMT and consensus estimates point to a 0.8% fall during the reported month as compared to January's reading of -0.2%.

Meanwhile, core durable goods orders, which exclude transportation items and tend to have a broader impact than the volatile headline figures, are also anticipated to register a decline of 0.4% in February as against a 0.8% rise recorded in the previous month. On the other hand, non-defence capital goods orders (excluding aircraft and parts) - a proxy for business investment - are forecasted to drop by 0.9% as compared to January's strong growth of 3.7%.

How could it affect EUR/USD?

Given that the recent market action has been exclusively sponsored by the broader market risk sentiment and developments surrounding the coronavirus saga, the data is unlikely to provide any meaningful impetus and pass largely unnoticed. Ahead of the release, the EUR/USD pair held steady above the 1.0800 round-figure mark, albeit lacked any strong follow-through.

In the meantime, Yohay Elam, FXStreet's own analyst offered a brief technical outlook and provided some important technical levels to trade the major: "Momentum on the four-hour chart has turned to the upside, a positive development, yet EUR/USD still trades below the 50, 100, and 200 Simple Moving Averages. The picture is improving."

"Resistance awaits at the daily high of 1.0840, followed by 1.0880, Tuesday's peak, which also converges with the 50 SMA. The next levels to watch are 1.0950 and 1.1050. Support awaits at 1.0750, Tuesday's low, and then by the 2020 trough of 1.0640. Further down, 1.0580 dates back to 2017 and is of interest," Yohay added further.

Key Notes

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About US durable goods orders

The Durable Goods Orders, released by the US Census Bureau, measures the cost of orders received by manufacturers for durable goods, which means goods planned to last for three years or more, such as motor vehicles and appliances. As those durable products often involve large investments they are sensitive to the US economic situation. The final figure shows the state of US production activity. Generally speaking, a high reading is bullish for the USD.