The euro today fell against the US dollar following the release of weak retail sales data for the euro area amid a subdued market environment. The EUR/USD currency pair traded in a tight range for most of today’s session as US markets remained closed for the Independence Day celebrations.
The EUR/USD currency pair today fell from a high of 1.1295 in the Asian session to a low of 1.1271 and was within this range at the time of writing.
The currency pair briefly spiked higher at the start of today’s session before falling back shortly thereafter and trading lower going forward. The pair traded near its lows following the release of the disappointing Markit Germany construction PMI by IHS Markit, which came in at 50.0 as compared to the previous 51.4 print. The pair kept following despite the European Central Bank‘s chief economist Philip Lane‘s speech. The release of the weak eurozone retail sales data by Eurostat also contributed to the pair’s fall as the retail sales contracted 0.3% in May versus the expected 0.3% expansion.
The closure of US markets due to the Independence Day celebrations led by President Donald Trump created low liquidity in the markets. The pair was also affected by the weakening German 10-year bond yields, which fell below the ECB’s deposit rate for the first time earlier today.
The currency pair’s future performance is likely to be affected by tomorrow’s German factory orders and the US non-farm payrolls report.
The EUR/USD currency pair was trading at 1.1283 as at 16:26 GMT having fallen from a high of 1.1295. The EUR/JPY currency pair was trading at 121.61 having dropped from a high of 121.72.
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Euro Falls on Weak Eurozone Retail Sales Amid Thin Holiday Trading
