• EUR/USD struggles to sustain above 1.0950 as the US Dollar performs strongly ahead of the FOMC Minutes.
• Traders have priced out Fed large rate cut bets for November.
• The ECB is expected to reduce interest rates by 50 bps in the last quarter of the year.

EUR/USD skates on thin ice near the eight-week low of 1.0950 in Wednesday’s European session. The major currency pair stays under pressure as the US Dollar (USD) gathers strength to extend its previous week’s rally further, with the US Dollar Index (DXY) hovering near a seven-week high around 102.60.

The appeal of the US Dollar has strengthened as traders have priced out expectations for the Federal Reserve (Fed) to reduce interest rates again by 50 basis points (bps) in November. Traders were forced to unwind Fed large rate cut bets as the upbeat United States (US) Nonfarm Payrolls (NFP) report for September diminished downside risks to economic growth and consumer spending. Also, dismal market sentiment due to Middle East tensions has improved the Greenback’s appeal as a safe haven.

Financial market participants expect the Fed to cut interest rates by 25 bps in the remaining two policy meetings this year at the time of writing, according to the CME FedWatch tool.

In Wednesday’s session, investors will pay close attention to the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) Minutes of the September meeting, which will be released at 18:00 GMT. The FOMC Minutes will convey the views of all officials on the interest rate and the economic outlook. In the September meeting, all members unanimously voted to start the policy-easing cycle with a 50-bps rate cut, except Fed Governor Michelle Bowman who favored a smaller reduction of 25 bps.