EUR/USD in a 150-pip Range (March 11, 2013)

Last Friday’s NFP release, which came in stronger than expected, pushed EUR/USD back to the 1.3000 major psychological level. This support zone seems to be holding at the moment as stochastic reached the oversold region and started to move upwards, suggesting a potential bounce back to the top of the range or at least until the middle.

There are no major economic reports due from the euro zone today so there’s no catalyst for a convincing break below the 1.3000 handle. Keep in mind though that the U.S. NFP was released during the New York session on a Friday, which means that Asian and London session traders have yet to price in their reaction to the data. A significant amount of dollar-buying could set off a break below the bottom of the range, especially when the euro zone suffers a bout of downbeat political updates from Italy.

EUR/USD could keep trading around the bottom of the range but could be due for a bit of correction as traders take profit off their short trades from last week. If that’s the case, the pair could bounce back up to the 1.3050 minor psychological level around the middle of the 150-pip range. Going long at 1.3000 with a stop below 1.2975 could yield roughly a 2:1 reward-to-risk, good enough for a day trade.

By Kate Curtis from Trader’s Way