The euro was on a downtrend today from the mid-Asian session to the mid-European session as the markets digested the mixed US non-farm payroll report from Friday. The euro’s decline was further accelerated by weak releases from across the Eurozone such as the disappointing German factory orders for March.
The EUR/USD currency pair today lost over 75 points to decline from an initial high of 1.1978 to a low of 1.1898.
The mixed non-farm payroll report, which registered the lowest unemployment record in 18 years was the main trigger behind the euro’s initial decline. However, the release of the German factory orders by the Federal Statistical Office in the early European session accelerated the currency pair’s decline. The factory orders for March contracted by 0.9% as opposed to the consensus estimate of 0.5% growth, which translated to an annualized 3.1% print versus the expected 5.0% figure. The positive Markit Germany Construction PMI, which came in at 50.9 versus the previous 47, could not lift the pair. The Markit Eurozone Retail PMI and the Markit Germany Retail PMI, both of which came in slightly below previous levels, also contributed to the pair’s downtrend.
A decline in US Treasury yields early in the American session caused the greenback to weaken slightly as tracked by the US Dollar Index, which led to the pair rising from its 4-month lows.
The currency pair’s future performance is likely to be affected by Fed speeches scheduled for later today as well as tomorrow’s German trade balance, and industrial production reports.
The EUR/USD currency pair was trading at 1.1931 as at 16:25 GMT having declined from a high of 1.1978. The EUR/JPY currency pair was trading at 130.18 having dropped from a high of 130.53.
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