All investors' attention in the first half of the day was focused on the publication of the minutes of the September meeting of the European Central Bank. Many were interested in the question of what exactly ECB President Mario Draghi meant by stating that the main decisions with regard to the bond repurchase program would be taken in October.
Before the release of the protocols, the euro fell against the US dollar, failing to overcome the threshold of 1.1780, which is very important for the further growth of risky assets.
The US dollar was also not particularly in demand among traders, as attention is now focused on the new manager of the Federal Reserve System, the decision on which will be made in the near future by US President Donald Trump.
From the minutes of the September meeting of the ECB, it can be seen that the ECB leaders discussed the possibility of adjusting the quantitative easing, agreeing in the general opinion that the adjustment of the program should be very gradual and cautious.
It should also be recalled that the president of the ECB was concerned about the strong strengthening of the euro this year. Among the leaders of the Central Bank, there was no consensus on the reasons for this growth.
The protocols also contained information that the European Central Bank is concerned about the weak rate of inflation in the euro area, despite the fact that a report recently appeared that indicates a slight increase in the basic consumer price index.
Data on the labor market in the US had only minimal support for the US dollar.
According to the report of the US Department of Labor, the number of initial applications for unemployment benefits in the US for the week from 24 to 30 September decreased by 12 thousand and amounted to 260 thousand. Economists had expected a larger increase in applications, up to 270 thousand. Primary applications for unemployment benefits in the US for the week from September 17 to 23 was not revised and remained at the level of 272 thousand.
The deficit of US foreign trade decreased slightly in August this year. According to the data, the negative balance of the foreign trade balance in August was 42.395 billion US dollars, while in July the indicator was at the level of 43.56 billion dollars. Economists had expected a balance of $ 42.7 billion.
As for the technical picture of the EUR/USD pair, there have been no significant changes. Only a real breakthrough of 1.1740 will lead to a weakening of the euro exchange rate and a return of the trading instrument to the lower border area of 1.1700. Going beyond 1.1780 will allow bulls to build long positions, which will lead EUR/USD to new weekly highs around 1.1830 - 1.1880.
