EUR/USD inches higher after Le Pen's announcement

The EUR/USD caught some fresh bids in the US afternoon after Marine Le Pen's latest announcement. After moving in a calm manner around mid 1.08's for most of the session, the pair rose to 1.0870 and is up 1.3% on the day.

French far-right presidential candidate Marine Le Pen, who is to face off against centrist Emmanuel Macron in the second round on May 7, said that she was temporarily stepping down as the president of the National Front Party as she was going to focus on her presidential campaign. 

• Le Pen steps down from National Front leadership - Fox News

With this move, Le Pen is aiming to appeal to a wider range of potential voters. However, this announcement may have been assessed as a sign of desperation by the participants, thus triggering another euro buying wave. On the other hand, another failure by the US Dollar Index to stay above 99 is also supporting the pair. Despite some new details on Trump's tax reform, the demand for the greenback remains weak. As of writing, the DXY was at 98.90, losing 0.75% on the day.

• US Dollar fails to extend correction above 99 handle

Technical outlook

The immediate hurdle for the pair aligns at 1.0905 (daily high) ahead of 1.10 (psychological level) and 1.1065 (Nov. 8 high). To the downside, supports could be found at 1.0820 (daily low), 1.0785 (200-DMA) and 1.0740 (Mar. 29 low).