The euro today hit new 4-month lows against the US dollar after Mario Draghi‘s speech at the European Central Bank‘s Forum on Banking Supervision in Frankfurt. Higher demand for the US dollar also contributed to the EUR/USD currency pair’s decline as the US Dollar Index traded at new highs during today’s session.
The EUR/USD currency pair declined by about 60 points from its daily high to hit a 4-month low of 1.1554 after Draghi’s speech.
Mario Draghi’s speech at the ECB forum highlighted the fact that negative interest rates were affecting the profitability of European banks, but he did not comment on monetary policy. The release of German industrial production data for September by the Federal Statistical Office also affected the euro negatively as the print did not meet expectations. The Markit Germany Retail PMI was also lower than the previous figure as it came in at 51.2 versus the previous 52.8. The Eurozone retail sales for September released by Eurostat beat expectations, but could not lift the single currency.
The increased demand for the US dollar drove the pair lower even as the US Dollar Index hit new highs around 95.15. The US JOLTS job openings report released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics also contributed to the decline. The job openings remained largely unchanged coming in at 6.1 million.
The currency pair’s short-term performance is likely to be affected by Janet Yellen’s ceremonial speech scheduled for 19:30 GMT today.
The EUR/USD currency pair was trading at 1.1571 as at 16:05 GMT having dropped from a daily high of 1.1615. The EUR/JPY currency pair was trading at 132.04 having declined from a high of 132.42 hit earlier today.
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