Forex: EUR/USD – Steady ahead of Bernanke in the House

iNVEZZ.com Wednesday July 17th: The euro has stayed above 1.31 today, after the pair rose to an almost one-week high at 1.3174 in yesterday’s New York trading, pressured by the lacklustre US inflation updates.

As reported by the Department of Labour, consumer prices rose by 1.8 percent in the June year, versus expectations for 1.5 percent. Month-on-month, prices were up 0.5 percent, against 0.3 percent expected. Core CPI, which strips out food and energy costs, rose by 1.6 percent over the 12 months to June and 0.2 percent m/m, matching estimates.
In today’s Asian session, the pair generally descended, reaching what remains the intraday low at 1.3122 ahead of the opening in London. Since then, a rally of sorts has occurred, with the quote trading in the 1.3140/60 range.

According to Eurostat today, seasonally adjusted Eurozone construction sector production fell by 0.3 percent in May, as against the previous month’s one percent growth. Cumulatively, production was down 5.1 percent on the year to May 2012.
US Fed chairman Ben Bernanke is scheduled to appear before Congress at 15:00 BST today to review and comment on the most recent developments in the US economy. The markets keenly await any hint of a departure from Bernanke’s observation last Wednesday that “highly accommodative monetary policy for the foreseeable future is what’s needed in the US economy”.
The latest US weekly jobless claims report is due out tomorrow.

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