When I began my day at the end of the Asian session, I incorrectly assumed that European markets would be closed for a holiday, as there were no significant events listed on the DailyFX calendar during the European session. Although markets were not actually closed, expectations for little Forex movements during these quiet hours were not disappointed.
The New Zealand Dollar is showing the biggest run during today’s trading, up 0.52% against the US Dollar, and the Yen is down 0.13% against the greenback. The rest of the day may also be fairly quiet, based on the scheduled economic releases during the North American session, but US Dollar volatility may pick up later in the week.
The biggest story during the session, although one that did not significantly move Forex markets, was the report that 25 Egyptian cops were killed in Sinai in a terrorist attack. NYMEX Crude prices are down slightly on the day, but were not significantly affected by news of further Egyptian violence.
In Germany, a member of Merkel’s CDU party, Fuchs, said that Greece may need to be given more time, but will probably not need another haircut. Spanish bad bank loans ratio reached an all-time high of 11.61% in June, following 11.21% in May. Neither headline had a significant effect on Euro trading.
The Euro continues to trade above 1.33 against the US Dollar in today’s trading. A 6-month high at 1.3416 may provide resistance for EUR/USD and support may be provided by a broken resistance line around 1.3180.
EURUSD Daily: August 19, 2013
Chart created by Benjamin Spier using Marketscope 2.0
— Written by Benjamin Spier, DailyFX Research