The EUR/USD pair has advanced modestly on Wednesday as investors remain sidelined ahead of the Federal Reserve Open Market Committee (FOMC) decision.
At the time of writing, the EUR/USD pair is trading at the 1.0790 zone, 0.23% above its opening price.
All eyes are on the Federal Reserve decision to be released at 18:00 GMT, which will be accompanied by the statement and the dot plot with updated members’ projections. Half an hour later, Chairman Jerome Powell will speak at a press conference.
Hours ahead of the verdict, the CME FedWatch Tool points to a 25 bps rate hike as the most likely outcome (89.3%) versus no change (10.7%). While the banking turmoil seems contained, at least at the time being, the Fed is far away from taming inflation. A 50 bps rate increase seems out of the table, so if the Fed surprises with such an increase, the dollar could rally across the board. Investors will also scrutinize the statement, the dot plot and Powell’s wording.
While the technical picture becomes less relevant ahead of the highly anticipated decision, the EUR/USD maintains a bullish short-term bias according to indicators on the daily chart while the price continues to rise above its main moving averages.
The EUR/USD pair needs to reclaim the 1.0800 zone to pave the way higher, with 1.0900 –psychological level and 50% retracement of the 1.2266-0.9535 decline – as the next target and critical barrier on the upside.
On the flip side, immediate supports are seen at 1.0700 and the 20-day SMA at 1.0640. The broader perspective will remain positive if the pair manages to hold above 1.0500 after the Fed event.