EUR/USD climbs after US GDP, eurozone CPI next

The euro is in positive territory on Thursday. EUR/USD is trading at 1.0840 in the North American session, up 0.37% on the day.

Eurozone inflation expected to tick higher to 2.5%

The week wraps up with eurozone inflation on Friday. The market estimate for May stands at 2.5% y/y/, compared to 2.4% in April. The core inflation rate is expected to tick higher to 2.8% y/y, up from 2.7% in April.

In Germany, the largest economy in the eurozone, inflation accelerated to 2.4% y/y in May, following a 2.2% gain in each of the past two months. This was the first time in five months that Germany’s inflation rate increased. On a monthly basis, inflation fell to 0.1%, a sharp drop from the 0.5% gain in April.

The timing of the eurozone CPI release is significant, as it comes shortly before the European Central Bank rate meeting on June 6th. The ECB has strongly hinted that it will lower rates at the meeting and it would be a nasty surprise for the markets if the ECB changes its mind.

With inflation under 3% and the eurozone grappling with sluggish economic activity, the conditions seems right for a rate cut. The ECB’s rate-tightening cycle has done a good job slashing inflation, and lower rates would provide some relief to households which are struggling with elevated rates and the high cost of living.

In the US, second-estimate GDP was revised downwards to 1.3% y/y. This was below the 1.6% in the first estimate but higher than the market estimate of 1.2% and much weaker than the 3.4% gain in the fourth quarter of 2023. The drop in GDP was mainly attributable to weaker consumer spending, as consumers are yet to see any relief from the Fed’s high benchmark rate target of 5.25% to 5.50%.

The Fed is concerned about stubbornly high inflation and FOMC members have been constantly pouring cold water on rate-cut expectations. The Fed has shown it can be patient and if the inflation picture doesn’t improve, it is conceivable that the Fed won’t lower rates before 2025.

EUR/USD Technical

  • EUR/USD pushed past resistance at 1.0806 and is testing resistance at 1.0845
  • 1.0765 and 1.0726 are the next support levels

Content is for general information purposes only. It is not investment advice or a solution to buy or sell securities. Opinions are the authors; not necessarily that of OANDA Business Information & Services, Inc. or any of its affiliates, subsidiaries, officers or directors. If you would like to reproduce or redistribute any of the content found on MarketPulse, an award winning forex, commodities and global indices analysis and news site service produced by OANDA Business Information & Services, Inc., please access the RSS feed or contact us at info@marketpulse.com. Visit https://www.marketpulse.com/ to find out more about the beat of the global markets. © 2023 OANDA Business Information & Services Inc.

Kenny Fisher

Kenny Fisher

Market Analyst at OANDA
A highly experienced financial market analyst with a focus on fundamental and macroeconomic analysis, Kenny Fisher’s daily commentary covers a broad range of markets including forex, equities and commodities. His work has been published in major online financial publications including Investing.com, Seeking Alpha and FXStreet. Kenny has been a MarketPulse contributor since 2012.