The EUR/USD currency pair declined significantly after the release of weak US housing data. The currency pair ignored the disappointing US housing report as investor sentiment towards the pair shifted in favor of the greenback leading to the pair’s decline.
The EUR/USD currency pair lost over 50 points to decline from a high of 1.2336 to a low of 1.2280 at the time of writing.
The currency pair was on an uptrend from the beginning of today’s session as the euro recovered from yesterday’s massive decline. The release of the Eurozone Consumer Price Index data by Eurostat early in the European session also contributed to the pair’s initial rally. The headline CPI came in at 0.2% on a monthly basis, which was in line with expectations. However, the annualized CPI was later downgraded to 1.1%, which was lower than January’s 1.3% print. The Eurozone labour costs grew by an annualized 1.5% in the euro area during the fourth quarter of 2017 as compared to the previous quarter.
The release of the US housing starts data by the Census Bureau in the early American session was the main trigger behind the pair’s decline. The housing starts came in at 1.236 million, while the building permits came in at 1.298 million; both prints were below expectations.
The currency pair’s short-term performance is likely to be affected by the release of the University of Michigan Consumer sentiment survey and the JOLTS job openings data.
The EUR/USD currency pair was trading at 1.2285 as at 13:59 GMT having dropped from a high of 1.2336. The EUR/JPY currency pair was trading at 130.30 having declined from a high of 130.84.
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