Euro Spikes Higher on Dovish Fed Comments Before FOMC Minutes

The  euro today spiked higher in  the  early American session following dovish comments by  Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic, which drove the  US dollar lower. The  EUR/USD currency was range bound for  most of  today’s session despite the  release of  several macro prints from across the  eurozone.
The  EUR/USD currency pair today spiked from a  session low of  1.1438 to  a  high of  1.1541 breaking the  crucial 1.1500 barrier before retracing some of  its gains.
The  currency pair rallied slightly after the  release of  the  German trade balance data in  the  early European session, but could not break out of  its range. According to  Germany’s Federal Statistical Office, the  trade balance for  November was recorded at  â‚¬19.0 billion missing expectations by  a  massive euro €1.0 billion. However, the  exports figure contracted by  0.4%, which was higher than the  expected 0.3% decline, while imports also contracted by  1.6%. The  pair headed lower despite the  release of  upbeat Eurozone unemployment data for  November by  Eurostat, which came in  at  7.9% versus the  expected 8.1%. The  pair remained range bound up to  the  early American session.
The  currency pair exploded higher following comments by  Atlanta Fed Raphael Bostic who stated that the  Fed should be patient before any further rate hikes. His comments marked the  first time in  years when a  Fed member was open to  cutting interest rates.
The  currency pair’s short-term performance is likely to  be affected by  the  release of  the  December FOMC minutes at  19:00 GMT today.
The  EUR/USD currency pair was trading at  1.1526 as  at  17:15 GMT   having rallied from a  low of  1.1438. The  EUR/JPY currency pair was trading at  124.85 having risen from a  low of  124.46.

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