Trade-Ideas

• EUR/USD: profit taken at 1.1570, buy again at 1.1480, take profit at 1.1720, stop-loss 1.1370
• USD/JPY: short opened at 108.50, take profit at 105.50, stop-loss 110.00
• USD/CAD: sell at 1.3350, take profit at 1.3010, stop-loss 1.3485

Market Overview

A range of Federal Reserve policymakers said last month they could be patient about future interest rate increases and a few did not support the central bank's rate increase that month, minutes from their December 18-19 policy meeting showed.

The minutes showed policymakers still thought the U.S. economy was in good shape last month when the Fed's rate-setting Federal Open Markets Committee raised its target range for overnight lending by a quarter percentage point. Policymakers also signaled at that meeting they were on track for two rate hikes in 2019.

But the minutes made clear that there were growing concerns over whipsawing financial markets and reports of a global slowdown. "Many participants expressed the view that, especially in an environment of muted inflation pressures, the committee could afford to be patient about further policy firming," according to the minutes.

U.S. central bankers also discussed the possibility of dropping altogether from future policy statements guidance on the outlook for future interest rate policy. "Several participants expressed the view that it might be appropriate over upcoming meetings to remove forward guidance entirely and replace it with language emphasizing the data-dependent nature of policy decisions," according to the minutes.

Since the December meeting, a rising number of policymakers, including Fed Chairman Jerome Powell, have argued for patience.

On Wednesday the EUR/USD registered the biggest one-day gain since September, clearing the daily cloud top. That price action has unmasked the key 1.1586 Fibonacci level, a 61.8% retrace of the 1.1815 to 1.1216 drop. We took profit on today’s session high at 1.1570 and are looking to get long again at 1.1480.