EUR/USD retreats sharply from 1.1615 immediate hurdle

   •  Technical selling reemerges above 1.1600 handle.
   •  USD rebound adds to some pressure.
   •  Development over US tax bill legislation remains in focus.

The EUR/USD pair faded a bullish spike to the 1.1615 level and quickly retreated around 20-25 pips over the past hour.

In the absence of any fresh development/market moving economic releases, the pair's latest leg of sharp slide could be solely attributed to some technical selling from a support break-point, now turned immediate hurdle. 

Adding to this, a modest pickup in the US Treasury bond yields helped the US Dollar to recover early lost ground and further collaborated to the pair's retracement from higher levels.

   •  USD looking to consolidate - Westpac

Despite good two-way moves, the pair remains confined within a narrow trading range as investors seemed to refrain from placing aggressive bets amid uncertainty surrounding the Republican-led US tax-cut legislation. 

   •  EUR/USD in a consolidative mode – Commerzbank

Investors on Thursday are likely to take cues from the ECB's economic bulletin and the latest EU economic forecasts, due to be released in a short while from now. This, along with the usual weekly initial jobless claims data from the US might also provide some short-term trading opportunities.  

   •  Europe: Commission forecasts in focus – SocGen

The key focus, however, would remain on the US tax bill text, slated to be revealed on Thursday and might turn out to be an important catalyst for the pair's next leg of directional move. 

Technical levels to watch

A follow through weakness below the 1.1580-75 zone would point to a resumption of the downtrend and could drag the pair towards 1.1555-50 intermediate support en-route the key 1.15 psychological mark. On the upside, the 1.1615 area remains immediate strong hurdle, above which the pair is likely to dart towards the 1.1675-80 hurdle.