• Steady early after closing down 0.1% with the U.S. dollar up 0.1%

• Putin to skip Ukraine talks, Russian team includes seasoned negotiators

• EU ready to take the slow road in US trade talks in pursuit of bigger deal

• Charts- 21-day Bollinger bands expand, 5, 10 & 21-day moving averages slip

• Daily momentum studies conflict - daily charts retain a bearish setup

• A close above the 1.1312 21-day moving average would end the downside bias

• Monday's 1.1065 low then 1.1053 0.618% of the Mar/Apr rise are first support

• This week's 1.1265 high, then last week's 1.1380 top are initial resistance

• 1.1150 996mln, 1.1165 912mln, and 1.1200 1.674BLN close strikes for May 15th
Andy

(Andrew Spencer is a Reuters market analyst. The views expressed are his own.)