EUR/USD climbs to near 6-month highs

The EUR/USD pair caught fresh bids in the first half of the NA session and inched higher to its best level since November 9 at 1.0952. However, the pair struggled to extend its bearish momentum and gave back some of its earning. As of writing, the pair was trading at 1.0940, up 0.5%.

1.0950 area has been a tough resistance to crack since last week and the pair could have a difficult time making a decisive move above that level unless it was backed by a data or a fundamental development. Furthermore, after forming a base around 98.80, the US Dollar Index is retracing its losses towards 99 once again, capping the gains in the EUR/USD pair.

Today's macro data from the United States showed that the labor market continued to tighten as the weekly jobless claims decreased by 19K to 238K for the week ending April 28. Moreover, unit labor costs rose by 3% for the first quarter of 2017 while the nonfarm productivity contracted by 0.6% for the same period, countering the positive effects of the data on the greenback. The next important data for the USD will come tomorrow as the US Department of Labor releases the nonfarm payroll figures for April. After March's dismal 98K nonfarm employment growth, investors expect a rebound to 185K in April.

• NFP to increase by 185k in April - Nomura

Technical outlook

The immediate hurdle for the pair aligns at 1.0950/52 (Apr. 27 high/daily high) ahead of 1.10 (psychological level) and 1.1070 (Nov. 8 high). To the downside, supports are located at 1.0850 (Apr. 27 low), 1.0775 (200-DMA) and 1.0685 (100-DMA).  

• EUR/USD perspective stays neutral – Scotiabank