Euro opens the ECB meeting week higher

Euro rose in European trade on Monday against a basket of major rivals, resuming gains against the dollar and approaching two-week highs anew, with the ECB expected to maintain interest rates unchanged this year. 

Now markets await the European Central Bank’s meeting this week to gather more clues about the prospects of rate cuts in June, especially following recent encouraging European inflation data.

Many analysts expect the EUR/USD pair to continue trading above the $1.08 barrier this week, ahead of the US inflation data on Wednesday. 

The Price 

EUR/USD rose 0.1% today to 1.0843, with a session-low at $1.0823, after losing 0.1% on Friday on profit-taking off a two-week high at $1.0877. 

Euro has also lost ground after strong US labor data last week, which hurt the odds of a Fed interest rate cut in June. 

Nonetheless, the euro managed to snag a 0.4% profit against the dollar last week, the first such weekly profit in a month.

The ECB

Later today, the European Central Bank’s policy meeting will commence, with decisions awaited tomorrow, expected to maintain interest rates unchanged for the fifth straight meeting. 

The ECB is likely to pave the way and prepare the market for the likely interest rate cut in June. 

 ECB President Christine Lagarde will also likely assert that any rate decision will fully depend on data.

EUR/USD Outlook this Week 

Italian bank UniCredit’s analysts believe that the EUR/USD will maintain its momentum this week and hold ground above 1.08.

The Commonwealth Bank’s analysts also don’t see high risks facing the EUR/USD pair as markets have already fully priced in the expected ECB rate cut in June.