- EUR/USD retraces below 1.0500 on Wednesday as the US Dollar gains amid a strong recovery in US bond yields.
- Republicans-controlled House of Representatives passed a $4.5 trillion tax cut plan on Tuesday.
- Investors await the preliminary German HICP for February and the US PCE inflation data for January, scheduled for Friday.
EUR/USD continues to face selling pressure above the psychological level of 1.0500 in Wednesday’s European session. The major currency pair falls due to a strong recovery in the US Dollar (USD). The US Dollar Index (DXY), which tracks the Greenback’s value against six major currencies, recovers sharply to near 106.50 after a weak opening around the 11-week low of 106.10 earlier in the day.
The Greenback capitalizes on a strong recovery in US bond yields, which had been sliding for almost a month. The 10-year US Treasury yields jump to near 4.33% after posting a fresh 13-week low at around 4.28% earlier in the day.
A green light to United States (US) President Donald Trump’s $4.5 trillion tax cut plan by the House of Representatives forced traders to dump government bonds, assuming that lower taxes on individuals would accelerate their purchasing power. Such a scenario would prompt inflationary pressures and force the Federal Reserve (Fed) to keep interest rates in the current range of 4.25%-4.50% for longer.
For fresh cues on the current status of inflation, investors await the US Personal Consumption Expenditures Price Index (PCE) data for January, which will be released on Friday. The core PCE inflation data – the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge as it excludes volatile food and energy items – is estimated to have decelerated to 2.6% year-over-year from 2.8% in December. Soft underlying inflation data would weigh on market expectations that the Fed will remain in the “waiting” mode for longer.
Daily digest market movers: EUR/USD drops amid recovery in US Dollar
- EUR/USD is down as investors have underpinned the US Dollar against the Euro (EUR). Meanwhile, the shared currency outperforms other peers as investors shift focus to the European Central Bank’s (ECB) policy meeting, which will be held next week.
- The ECB is almost certain to cut the Deposit Facility rate by 25 basis points (bps) to 2.5%. Therefore, investors will pay close attention to the ECB’s monetary policy guidance. A slew of ECB officials has been guiding that the central bank should continue reducing interest rates based on expectations that inflation will sustainably return to the 2% target.
- Soft Eurozone Q4 Negotiated Wage Rate data, a key measure of wage growth, has also boosted ECB dovish bets. On Tuesday, the ECB reported that the wage growth measure rose at a slower pace of 4.12% compared to the 5.43% increase seen in the third quarter of the previous year.
- However, ECB board member Isabel Schnabel seems to criticize dovish bets as she believes that Eurozone’s economic weakness is “not due to overly high borrowing costs” but to “structural factors”. Her commentary indicated that she doesn’t support further policy easing. “It’s no longer clear the current 2.75% rate is still holding back the eurozone economy,” Schnabel said.
- Going forward, investors will focus on the German flash Harmonized Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) data for February, which will be published on Friday.
Euro PRICE Today
The table below shows the percentage change of Euro (EUR) against listed major currencies today. Euro was the strongest against the New Zealand Dollar.
| USD | EUR | GBP | JPY | CAD | AUD | NZD | CHF | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| USD | 0.18% | 0.20% | 0.40% | 0.21% | 0.43% | 0.45% | 0.28% | |
| EUR | -0.18% | 0.01% | 0.20% | 0.02% | 0.24% | 0.25% | 0.10% | |
| GBP | -0.20% | -0.01% | 0.19% | 0.00% | 0.23% | 0.25% | 0.10% | |
| JPY | -0.40% | -0.20% | -0.19% | -0.18% | 0.04% | 0.04% | -0.10% | |
| CAD | -0.21% | -0.02% | -0.01% | 0.18% | 0.23% | 0.24% | 0.09% | |
| AUD | -0.43% | -0.24% | -0.23% | -0.04% | -0.23% | 0.02% | -0.14% | |
| NZD | -0.45% | -0.25% | -0.25% | -0.04% | -0.24% | -0.02% | -0.15% | |
| CHF | -0.28% | -0.10% | -0.10% | 0.10% | -0.09% | 0.14% | 0.15% |
The heat map shows percentage changes of major currencies against each other. The base currency is picked from the left column, while the quote currency is picked from the top row. For example, if you pick the Euro from the left column and move along the horizontal line to the US Dollar, the percentage change displayed in the box will represent EUR (base)/USD (quote).
Technical Analysis: EUR/USD stays below 1.0500
EUR/USD stays in a tight range at around 1.0500 on Wednesday. The 50-day Exponential Moving Average (EMA) continues to support the major currency pair around 1.0440.
The 14-day Relative Strength Index (RSI) wobbles just below 60.00. A bullish momentum would activate if the RSI (14) manages to sustain above that level.
Looking down, the February 10 low of 1.0285 will act as the major support zone for the pair. Conversely, the December 6 high of 1.0630 will be the key barrier for the Euro bulls.
Economic Indicator
Harmonized Index of Consumer Prices (YoY)
The Harmonized Index of Consumer Prices (HICP), released by the German statistics office Destatis on a monthly basis, is an index of inflation based on a statistical methodology that has been harmonized across all European Union (EU) member states to facilitate comparisons. The YoY reading compares prices in the reference month to a year earlier. Generally, a high reading is bullish for the Euro (EUR), while a low reading is bearish.
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