The strong US dollar took the pair towards 20Dsma. The US unemployment claims plunged, which gave a strong support to the greenback. In the week ending January 24, the flash figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 265,000, a decrease of 43,000 from the previous week's revised level. This is the lowest level for initial claims since April 15, 2000. But the Pending home sales data was disappointing, it declined 3.7%. On the other hand, Japan's retail sales unexpectedly fell in December. Sales declined 0.3% percent from November for a third month in a row. Today, the focus has shifted to US preliminary GDP.
The pair has been still consolidating in the same tight range between 118.85 and 117.10 as we discussed in our earlier reports. The prices are trading within a triangle on the h4 chart. In case if the prices managed to give an upside breakout, it can challenge towards 120.50. In yesterday's session the pair managed to close above 34hrsma levels. The prices are facing strong resistance at the 80.0 fib level on the h4-chart. For about 3 hours, the prices have been taking support from the previous swing high at 118.24. We recommend buying at the current price of 118.27 with the targets at 118.50, 118.65, and 118.80. On a positional basis, until the pair holds at 117.00 and trades above 118.85, it can give another stellar show towards 120.00+. In case if the pair breaks below 117.00, it can extend its fall to 115.00 and panic will spark below 115.00. The intraday support levels exists at 118.15 and 117.85. We recommend selling only below 117.85, until bulls have an upper hand.
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