• EUR/USD trades firmly near 1.1645 as the US Dollar holds onto opening losses.
• US President Trump said that the agreement with Iran is “largely negotiated”.
• US-Iran deal hopes have forced trades to slightly pare hawkish Fed bets.

The Euro (EUR) holds onto its opening gains against the US Dollar (USD) around 1.1645 at the start of the European trading session on Monday. The major currency pair trades firmly as the market sentiment remains favorable for riskier assets due to firm expectations that the United States (US) and Iran are close to reaching a deal.

During the press time, S&P 500 futures are up almost 0.9% to near 7,540, reflecting strong risk-appetite of market participants. The risk-on profile has diminished the safe-haven demand of the US Dollar. In early European trade, the US Dollar Index (DXY), which tracks the Greenback’s value against six major currencies, clings onto early losses near 99.00.

The US-Iran deal hopes have deepened, following the post from US President Donald Trump on Truth Social, over the weekend, that an agreement with Iran is “largely negotiated”, which includes the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and other elements. Trump added, “Final aspects and details of the deal are currently being discussed, and will be announced shortly.” This prompted investors’ confidence that a deal between both nations will be reached soon.

However, in a separate post that came later, US President Trump said that there is “no rush for the deal,” as time is on Washington’s side.

A sharp decline in oil prices due to US-Iran deal hopes has also diminished hopes of at least one interest rate hike by the Federal Reserve (Fed) this year. According to the CME FedWatch tool, the odds of the Fed delivering at least one interest rate hike this year are almost 57%, down from 67% recorded on Friday.

In the Eurozone, comments from various European Central Bank (ECB) officials pointing to an increase in inflationary pressures in the near term are raising expectations of an interest rate hike going forward.

ECB policymaker and the head of Belgium's central bank, Pierre Wunsch, said last week that the central bank needs to act at some point, as “we are at the beginning of an inflation problem”.