The realities of what’s happening in the Europe are weighing on the euro today, and even better news out of the United States can’t boost risk appetite enough to help. Mario Draghi’s remarks during yesterday’s ECB policy announcement were less than inspiring, and the latest news on the US economy only serves to highlight differences.
The latest US nonfarm payrolls report has been released, and the news is generally good. In February, the US economy added 236,000 jobs, and the unemployment rate fell from 7.9 per cent to 7.7 per cent. This progress is boosting equities around the world, but the euro seems left out of the party.
While the 17-nation currency has pared some of its earlier losses, the euro is still struggling against the US dollar. Part of that has to do with yesterday’s speech from ECB President Mario Draghi. Even though he was less dovish than usual, Draghi still pointed out that inflation problems have ebbed a bit, and that the growth outlook for the eurozone remains poor.
Once again, the realities attending the periphery countries, and the sovereign debt problems still in evidence, are dragging on the eurozone economy — and the euro’s performance.
At 13:53 GMT EUR/USD is down to 1.3026 from the open at 1.3107. EUR/GBP is down to 0.8722 from the open at 0.8730. EUR/JPY is up to 125.4750 from the open at 142.3850.
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