The euro was mixed today, falling against commodity currencies, trading flat against the US dollar and the Japanese yen, while posting big gains versus the Swiss franc. Market analysts attributed such behavior to the risk-on mode of markets. Macroeconomic data released over the session in Germany was disappointing, preventing the currency pair from going higher.
German industrial production contracted 0.8% in January from the previous month after increasing at the same rate in December. Experts completely missed the mark with their forecasts of a 0.5% increase. Year-on-year, the indicator dropped 3.3%.
The seasonally adjusted trade balance showed a surplus of â¬18.5 billion in January, down from â¬19.9 billion in December. Forecasts were wrong in this instance as well, promising ahead of the report an increase to â¬21.2 billion.
The euro ended last week extremely weak due to the surprisingly dovish stance of the European Central Bank. Looking ahead, the currency will pay attention to macro releases, including eurozone industrial production and inflation prints. Brexit developments will also likely affect the currency.
EUR/USD traded at about 1.1241 as of 18:36 GMT today after opening at 1.1235. EUR/AUD declined from 1.5962 to 1.5923. EUR/CHF jumped from 1.1319 to 1.1362.
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