The euro today declined against the US dollar following the release of weak Markit services PMIs from across the Eurozone in the early European session. The release of weak US data early in the American session could not reverse the euro’s slide against the greenback.
The EUR/USD currency pair today lost over 50 points to decline from a high of 1.2290 to trade at a low of 1.2235.
The currency pair’s initial decline was triggered by the release of German factory orders for February by the Federal Statistical Office early in the European session. The factory orders came in at an annualized 3.5% versus the expected 6.3% print. The release of the Markit Germany Services PMI also contributed to the pair’s decline as it came in at 53.9 as compared to the consensus estimate of 54.2. The Markit Eurozone Services PMI also missed expectations by coming in at 54.9 versus the expected 55.0. The Eurozone retail sales data for February released by Eurostat also missed expectations by coming in at an annualized 1.8% versus the consensus estimate of 2.3%.
The release of the positive Eurozone Producer Price Index for February, which beat expectations could not reverse the pair’s downtrend. The release of weak US initial jobless claims data and the high US trade deficit data for February could not boost the pair.
The currency pair’s future performance is likely to be affected by tomorrow’s German construction and retail PMIs as well as the US change in non-farm payrolls report.
The EUR/USD currency pair was trading at 1.2245 as at 14:20 GMT having declined from a high of 1.2290. The EUR/JPY currency pair was trading at 131.27 having risen from a low of 131.06.
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