Euro pauses a two-day winning streak as the US Dollar steadies
- EUR/USD trades under pressure as softer US inflation delays, but does not derail, Fed rate hike expectations.
- A Reuters poll shows most economists expect one more ECB rate hike this year.
- US Retail Sales meet expectations while Jobless Claims beat forecasts.
EUR/USD trades with a downside bias on Thursday, snapping a two-day winning streak as the US Dollar (USD) steadies following recent losses driven by softer-than-expected United States (US) inflation data. At the time of writing, the pair trades around 1.1457, down modestly on the day.
Market sentiment remains fragile as renewed tensions in the Middle East push Oil prices higher, raising concerns that June's inflation slowdown may prove short-lived. This is limiting the downside in the US Dollar as traders continue to expect a Federal Reserve (Fed) interest rate hike later this year.
The US Dollar Index (DXY), which tracks the Greenback's value against a basket of six major currencies, is trading around 100.60 after falling to 100.35 on Wednesday, its lowest level since June 18.
The Greenback found additional support after the latest US labour market data showed that Initial Jobless Claims fell to 208K in the week ending July 11. The reading was below the 217K forecast.
US Retail Sales rose 0.2% MoM in June, in line with expectations. May's reading was slightly revised upward to 1.0% from 0.9%. The Retail Sales Control Group also came in as expected at 0.5%, down from May's 0.8% increase.
On the geopolitical front, the US carried out a fifth consecutive night of strikes against Iranian targets, while Tehran responded by targeting US assets in Kuwait, Bahrain and Jordan.
Reuters reported, citing sources, that Iran had instructed Yemen’s Houthis to close the Bab el-Mandeb gateway to the Red Sea if the US attacks its power network. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) is trading near $80 and gaining around 12% so far this week.
Higher energy prices have also revived expectations of another European Central Bank (ECB) rate hike. A Reuters poll released on Thursday showed that all 74 economists expect the ECB to keep its deposit rate unchanged at 2.25% at its July meeting, while a 70% majority expect one more increase this year, most likely in September.
Euro Price Today
The table below shows the percentage change of Euro (EUR) against listed major currencies today. Euro was the strongest against the Swiss Franc.
| USD | EUR | GBP | JPY | CAD | AUD | NZD | CHF | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| USD | 0.10% | 0.21% | 0.05% | -0.18% | -0.04% | -0.04% | 0.30% | |
| EUR | -0.10% | 0.11% | -0.04% | -0.27% | -0.06% | -0.13% | 0.20% | |
| GBP | -0.21% | -0.11% | -0.13% | -0.37% | -0.18% | -0.24% | 0.11% | |
| JPY | -0.05% | 0.04% | 0.13% | -0.25% | -0.02% | -0.10% | 0.25% | |
| CAD | 0.18% | 0.27% | 0.37% | 0.25% | 0.22% | 0.15% | 0.49% | |
| AUD | 0.04% | 0.06% | 0.18% | 0.02% | -0.22% | -0.05% | 0.28% | |
| NZD | 0.04% | 0.13% | 0.24% | 0.10% | -0.15% | 0.05% | 0.33% | |
| CHF | -0.30% | -0.20% | -0.11% | -0.25% | -0.49% | -0.28% | -0.33% |
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 Euro from the left column and move along the horizontal line to the US Dollar, the percentage change displayed in the box will represent EUR (base)/USD (quote).
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