EUR/USD Price Forecast – EUR/USD Trades Range Bound on Last Trading Session of the Week

The partial US government shutdown kept the US Dollar bulls on the defensive and assisted the EUR/USD pair to continue gaining positive traction on the last trading day of the week. The pair extended its post-Christmas rebound and advanced back closer to 100-day SMA barrier, though softer German CPI data kept a lid on any further up-move. The EUR/USD pair is seeing some downside play in thin Asian markets, testing into 1.1425 as the major pair struggles within trading ranges established late last week. Broader markets remain sedate and volumes steeply decreased as investors pull back for the year’s end, and major assets see thin play within recent ranges.

Plenty of concerns will be following investors through the doors into 2019

The Euro is heading into 2019 on mixed tones as the European continent grapples with an array of economic headwinds, from Italy’s lagging budget concerns to Brexit, as well as threats of a global economic slowdown, and soured market sentiment could be ringing in 2019 as the new year looks set for a rough ride. The greenback built on its steady rebound at the start of a new trading week and exerted some fresh downward pressure, with the pair falling below Friday’s swing low during the Asian session. The downside, however, is likely to remain cushioned amid relatively thin liquidity conditions and absent relevant market moving economic releases, either from the Euro-zone or the US on New Year’s Eve. As of writing this article, the pair is trading flat at 1.1429 down by 0.10% on the day.

When looking from technical perspective, the pair retains a neutral bias and any attempted up-moves might continue to confront some fresh supply near 100-day SMA, around the 1.1475-80 region. A convincing breakthrough the mentioned hurdle should assist the pair to surpass the key 1.1500 psychological marks and test 1.1515-20 supply zone, marking 50% Fibonacci retracement level of the 1.1815-1.1216 downfall. On the flip side, the 1.1400 handle is likely to protect the immediate downside, which if broken might drag the pair back towards 23.6% Fibonacci retracement level support near mid-1.1300s. A follow-through selling now seems to turn the pair vulnerable to head back towards challenging the 1.1300 round figure mark before eventually dropping to the 1.1265 strong horizontal support.