EUR/USD: standing firm ahead of today's Consumer Confidence Index

[b]While encouraging messages from China are allowing risk assets to maintain a certain firmness, the EUR/USD, one of the barometers of risk appetite on the financial markets, is capped near its annual highs, at the end of this week which will be marked by today's highly anticipated publication of the consumer confidence index (U-Mich) at 16:00 (EU time).

In the statistical chapter on Thursday, traders took note of the final data for the US quarterly GDP, at +2.9% on an annual basis, with no deviation from initial estimates. New registrations for unemployment benefits over one week amounted to 219,000, showing signs of chronic tension on the job market. Finally, orders for durable goods, excluding transport equipment, increased by 0.6% over one month, well above expectations. The scenario of a soft landing for the world's leading economy is gradually taking shape again.

The official Chinese news agency Xinhua reported that the Chinese Politburo meeting on Thursday had decided that new measures were required to support the economy and achieve the 5% growth target in 2024. The urgency of reviving the real estate sector, which has been in decline for three years, was also highlighted. Some media outlets also reported measures to reduce youth unemployment, or, like Bloomberg, capital injections into state banks. Enough to encourage the market to bet on new stimulus measures in the coming days. This would be in addition to a first package unveiled by the People's Bank of China on Tuesday.

Right now, the EUR/USD is trading at $1.1192.

KEY CHART ELEMENTS
The spot has once again weakened an oblique graphic support line, relaunching the idea of ​​the formation of a chart pattern. A clear break of this threshold would weaken the currency pair for the coming weeks. A neutral position is adopted while waiting, if necessary, for a signal.

MEDIUM-TERM FORECAST
In view of the key graphic factors that we have mentioned, our opinion is neutral in the medium term on the EUR/USD.

We will maintain this neutral opinion as long as the EUR/USD is positioned between the support at $1.1012 and the resistance at $1.1250.