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The European currency shows weak growth, retreating from new record lows, updated at the opening of trading the day before. The EUR/USD pair is testing 0.9950 for a breakout; however, the positions of the "bulls" remain extremely vulnerable, and the growth of the instrument is mainly due to technical factors.

The market is still dominated by worries about the prospects for the European economy and the energy crisis that has erupted. While the European Central Bank (ECB) is only planning a second interest rate hike to curb inflation, the region's economy is close to recession and high electricity and gas tariffs leave no doubt that households will need more bailouts and subsidies to pay their bills this winter.

Last week, the German authorities approved the third package of measures aimed at protecting the population and businesses from the rapid rise in prices against the backdrop of the energy crisis (in August, inflation accelerated to 7.9% in annual terms). A record amount of 65.0 billion euros is planned to be directed, in particular, to the implementation of a discount program in the field of transport services and tax incentives (about 1.7 billion euros). In addition, one-time social payments will be received by the most vulnerable segments of the population: pensioners (300.0 euros) and students (200.0 euros).

Macroeconomic statistics released yesterday in the EU turned out to be negative again. The S&P Global Services PMI in Germany in August fell from 48.2 points to 47.7 points with neutral forecasts, and the same index for the eurozone fell from 50.2 points to 49.8 points. Retail Sales in the euro area in July showed a weak increase of 0.3% after a sharp fall of 1.0% a month earlier. In annual terms, the rate of decline in sales slowed down from –3.2% to –0.9%, while the forecast was –0.7%.

Bollinger Bands in D1 chart demonstrate a moderate decrease. The price range is narrowing, reflecting ambiguous dynamics of trading in the short term. MACD is growing preserving a weak buy signal (located above the signal line). Stochastic, having rebounded from the level of "20", reversed towards growth, signaling in favor of the development of corrective dynamics in the ultra-short term.

Resistance levels: 1.0000, 1.0050, 1.0100, 1.0150. | Support levels: 0.9950, 0.9900, 0.9850, 0.9800.