Euro was struggling a great deal earlier in the session, but the 19-nation currency has since pared some of its losses. Better news out of the eurozone, with an improved confidence reading, is helping the euro, although it is still mostly lower against its major counterparts.
Economic confidence in the eurozone unexpectedly rose in September, helping the euro pare some of the losses seen earlier today. The index of executive and consumer confidence rose from 104.1 in August to 105.6 in September, according to the European Commission.
This is the highest level of economic confidence in four years, and it goes against expectations that sentiment would deteriorate during the month of September. While this unexpected news isn’t sending the euro soaring, it has helped the 19-nation currency reduce some of its earlier losses.
There are expectations that this confidence will help the eurozone weather economic issues that might arise if China precipitates an economic slowdown in emerging markets — or even the global markets. The news is also likely to support the euro eventually, as it will lead the ECB to possibly curtail some of its planned easing.
At 14:19 GMT EUR/USD is down to 1.1224 from the open at 1.1244. EUR/GBP is down to 0.7409 from the open at 0.7410. EUR/JPY is down to 134.6510 from the open at 134.8420.
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