EUR/USD slides to near 3-week lows, approaching 1.1200 mark on softer German CPI

   •  A goodish rebound in the US bond yields helped the USD to regain traction.
   •  The Euro was further weighed down by softer German flash CPI figures. 
   •  Bearish traders seemed rather unaffected by weaker US Q4 GDP growth.

Having posted a session high level of 1.1261, the EUR/USD pair met with some fresh supply and dropped to near three-week lows in the last hour.

The pair extended last week's retracement slide from the 1.1450 region, or six-week tops, and traded with a bearish bias for the third consecutive session on Thursday - also marking its fifth down day in the previous six.

A goodish rebound in the US Treasury bond yields helped the US Dollar to regain positive traction and add to this week's gains, which eventually turned out to be one of the key factors prompting some selling at higher levels. 

Bearish traders seemed rather unaffected by today's weaker than expected final US GDP print, showing that the economic growth in the final quarter of 2018 stood at 2.2% as against 2.6% estimated in the preliminary release.

Meanwhile, the shared currency was further pressurized by softer German consumer inflation figures, showing that the headline CPI held steady at 0.4% m/m rate in March as compared to an uptick to 0.6% anticipated. 

Adding to the disappointment, the yearly CPI rate eased to 1.3% from 1.5% previous and was also worse than 1.6% expected, while Harmonized index of consumer prices also mixed consensus estimates.

It would now be interesting to see if the pair is able to find any support at lower levels or the current downslide marks the resumption of the prior well-established bearish trend amid a more dovish shift in the stance by the ECB.

Technical levels to watch

Yohay Elam, Analyst at FXStreet writes: “Support awaits at the recent trough of 1.1243, the lowest in two weeks. Further down, 1.1220 was a stepping stone on the way up, and 1.1200 capped the pair just after it hit 1.1176, the current 2019 low. 1.1115 is next.”

“1.1275 was a swing low last week, and it is closely followed by 1.1290 that held it down on Wednesday. 1.1317 where the 200 SMA meets the price. 1.1335 was a high point late last week. Further up, 1.1360 and 1.1390 capped EUR/USD recently,” he added further.