EUR/USD Retreats from Highest Since 2011

EUR/USD touched the strongest level since 2011 but retreated later today. There were several reasons for the drop: profit-taking, worries about the situation in Ukraine and the comments of European Central Bank President Mario Draghi, who hinted that he considers the euro to be excessively strong. The better-than-expected reports from the United States added to the downside momentum of the currency pair.
Retail sales grew 0.3% in February, matching market expectations. The January value was revised from -0.4% to -0.6%. (Event A on the chart.)
Initial jobless claims dropped from 324k to 315k last week instead of rising to 334k as was predicted by analysts. (Event A on the chart.)
Both import and export prices increased in February. Import prices were up 0.9% last month, exceeding the forecast of 0.6% and the previous month’s growth of 0.4% (revised up from 0.1%). Export prices advanced 0.6% following the 0.2% increase in the previous month. (Event A on the chart.)
Business inventories expanded 0.4% in January from the previous month, in line with predictions, following the 0.5% increase in December. (Event B on the chart.)
Treasury budget deficit widened from $10.3 billion in January to $193.5 billion in February. The actual shortage was still below the figure of $223.2 billion which was anticipated by most forecasters. (Event C on the chart.)


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