EUR/USD trades flat near 1.1780 even as US Dollar trades firmly
- EUR/USD trades sideways around 1.1780 despite strength in the US Dollar.
- The US Dollar remains firm as investors digest the US SC’s ruling against Trump’s tariff policy.
- Investors await Fed speeches and the flash German HICP data for February.
The EUR/USD pair trades in a tight range around 1.1780 during the European trading session on Tuesday. The major currency pair consolidates even as the US Dollar (USD) trades firmly, suggesting that the Euro (EUR) is also upbeat.
During the press time, the US Dollar Index (DXY), which tracks the Greenback’s value against six major currencies, is up 0.16% to near 97.85.
US Dollar Price Today
The table below shows the percentage change of US Dollar (USD) against listed major currencies today. US Dollar was the strongest against the Japanese Yen.
| USD | EUR | GBP | JPY | CAD | AUD | NZD | CHF | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| USD | -0.01% | -0.09% | 0.67% | -0.03% | -0.08% | -0.21% | -0.15% | |
| EUR | 0.01% | -0.08% | 0.68% | -0.01% | -0.07% | -0.19% | -0.14% | |
| GBP | 0.09% | 0.08% | 0.78% | 0.07% | 0.02% | -0.10% | -0.05% | |
| JPY | -0.67% | -0.68% | -0.78% | -0.69% | -0.74% | -0.88% | -0.82% | |
| CAD | 0.03% | 0.00% | -0.07% | 0.69% | -0.05% | -0.18% | -0.13% | |
| AUD | 0.08% | 0.07% | -0.02% | 0.74% | 0.05% | -0.12% | -0.07% | |
| NZD | 0.21% | 0.19% | 0.10% | 0.88% | 0.18% | 0.12% | 0.05% | |
| CHF | 0.15% | 0.14% | 0.05% | 0.82% | 0.13% | 0.07% | -0.05% |
The heat map shows percentage changes of major currencies against each other. The base currency is picked from the left column, while the quote currency is picked from the top row. For example, if you pick the US Dollar from the left column and move along the horizontal line to the Japanese Yen, the percentage change displayed in the box will represent USD (base)/JPY (quote).
The Greenback remains on the front foot as market participants expect uncertainty sparked due to the United States (US) Supreme Court (SC) blocking President Donald Trump’s tariff policy will be short-lived, as there are several ways to keep additional import duties in place. Even Trump has announced 15% global tariffs to offset the same, and has threatened steeper levies in case countries refrain from honouring trade deals in the wake of SC’s ruling.
Going forward, the next major trigger for the US Dollar will be speeches from a slew of Federal Reserve (Fed) officials who are scheduled to speak later in the day. Investors will pay close attention to Fed speeches to get fresh cues on the US interest rate outlook. Meanwhile, traders are confident that the Fed will leave interest rates unchanged in its upcoming policy meetings in March and April, according to the CME FedWatch tool.
On the Euro (EUR) front, the next major trigger will be the preliminary German Harmonized Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) data for February, which will be released on Friday. The data is expected to show that inflationary pressures grew 0.5% Month-on-Month (MoM) after declining 0.1% in January, with annual figures rising steadily by 2.1%.
The impact of the inflation data is expected to be limited on the European Central Bank’s (ECB) monetary policy outlook as price pressures have remained close to the 2% target.
Also, comments from ECB President Christine Lagarde in a conference on Monday signaled that there is no need for any monetary policy adjustment in the current scenario. “I very strongly believe that we are in that good place,” Lagarde said.
US Dollar FAQs
The US Dollar (USD) is the official currency of the United States of America, and the ‘de facto’ currency of a significant number of other countries where it is found in circulation alongside local notes. It is the most heavily traded currency in the world, accounting for over 88% of all global foreign exchange turnover, or an average of $6.6 trillion in transactions per day, according to data from 2022. Following the second world war, the USD took over from the British Pound as the world’s reserve currency. For most of its history, the US Dollar was backed by Gold, until the Bretton Woods Agreement in 1971 when the Gold Standard went away.
The most important single factor impacting on the value of the US Dollar is monetary policy, which is shaped by the Federal Reserve (Fed). The Fed has two mandates: to achieve price stability (control inflation) and foster full employment. Its primary tool to achieve these two goals is by adjusting interest rates. When prices are rising too quickly and inflation is above the Fed’s 2% target, the Fed will raise rates, which helps the USD value. When inflation falls below 2% or the Unemployment Rate is too high, the Fed may lower interest rates, which weighs on the Greenback.
In extreme situations, the Federal Reserve can also print more Dollars and enact quantitative easing (QE). QE is the process by which the Fed substantially increases the flow of credit in a stuck financial system. It is a non-standard policy measure used when credit has dried up because banks will not lend to each other (out of the fear of counterparty default). It is a last resort when simply lowering interest rates is unlikely to achieve the necessary result. It was the Fed’s weapon of choice to combat the credit crunch that occurred during the Great Financial Crisis in 2008. It involves the Fed printing more Dollars and using them to buy US government bonds predominantly from financial institutions. QE usually leads to a weaker US Dollar.
Quantitative tightening (QT) is the reverse process whereby the Federal Reserve stops buying bonds from financial institutions and does not reinvest the principal from the bonds it holds maturing in new purchases. It is usually positive for the US Dollar.
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