EUR/USD Forecast: Euro remains stuck between key technical levels

• EUR/USD fluctuates in a tight channel below 1.0800 on Friday.
• Hawkish comments from ECB officials help the Euro limit its losses.
• The pair needs to break out of the 1.0700-1.0800 range to find direction.

Following a two-day rebound, EUR/USD failed to preserve its bullish momentum and closed virtually unchanged on Thursday. The pair continues to move sideways below 1.0800 as investors’ search for fresh catalysts continues.

The US Dollar (USD) outperformed its rivals in on Thursday as the benchmark 10-year US Treasury bond yield stretched higher after the Department of Labor reported that there were 218,000 Initial Jobless Claims in the week ending February 3, down from 227,000 in the previous week. Nevertheless, the currency struggled to gather further strength and helped EUR/USD limits its losses as Wall Street’s main indexes held steady.

Meanwhile, cautious comments from European Central Bank (ECB) officials on the timing of a policy pivot seem to be further supporting the Euro. ECB policymaker Martins Kazaks said that he was not optimistic for a rate cut in Spring and Governing Council Member Francois Villeroy de Galhau noted on Friday that the central bank will probably cut rates this year. Similarly, policymaker Pierre Wunsch said on Thursday that there is value in waiting to get more comforting wage data before taking policy action.