Euro edges higher, US dollar under pressure

The euro has edged higher on Friday. In the European session, EUR/USD is trading at 1.0994, up 0.21% on the day at the time of writing.

The US dollar is under pressure and the euro rose as much as 1.2% this week before paring about half of those gains. On Wednesday, the euro hit 1.1047, its highest level against the US dollar this year.
Investors are showing greater pessimism about economic conditions. Eurozone investor sentiment fell to 17.9 in August, down sharply from 43.7 a month earlier. This was the lowest reading since November 2023. Germany, the largest economy in the eurozone, showed a similar trend. There are significant uncertainties about the eurozone and German economies and these worries increased due to the recent turmoil in the global stock markets.

Solid US data eases market nerves

Exactly two weeks ago, the US jobs report was weaker than expected, triggering a meltdown across global stock markets. Investors panicked that the US economy was hurtling towards a recession but the markets have recovered courtesy of solid US numbers this week.

US inflation dipped to 2.9% y/y in July, down a notch from 3% a month earlier which was also the market estimate. Retail sales jumped 1% m/m, bouncing back from -0.2% in June and breezing past the market estimate of 0.4%. As well, unemployment claims were lower than the market estimate for a second straight week.

The rout in the financial markets raised expectations for a half-point cut from the Federal Reserve to as high as 60%, but this has fallen to 30% since the retail sales report (a quarter-point has been priced in at 70%). The Fed meets next on September 18 and a rate cut is virtually guaranteed but the size of the cut remains an open question.
.
EUR/USD Technical

  • EUR/USD is testing resistance at 1.0980. Above, there is resistance at 1.1010
  • 1.0942 and 1.0912 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.
Kenny Fisher

Latest posts by Kenny Fisher (see all)