For the 24 hours to 23:00 GMT, the EUR declined 0.48% against the USD and closed at 1.0592 on Friday.
In economic news, Germany’s seasonally adjusted industrial production unexpectedly rose 2.2% on a monthly basis in February, driven by robust activity in the construction sector. Industrial production registered a revised similar rise in the prior month, while markets were expecting for a fall of 0.2%. Moreover, the nation’s seasonally adjusted trade surplus expanded more-than-expected to a level of €19.9 billion in February, on the back of an increase in exports, while investors had envisaged the nation to post a surplus of €17.7 billion. In the previous month, the nation had reported a revised surplus of €14.9 billion.
The US Dollar gained ground against its major counterparts on Friday, after an influential Federal Reserve official, William Dudley, stated that central bank’s plan to shrink its bond portfolio later this year would prompt only a “little pause” in the central bank’s rate hike plans.
The greenback initially lost ground against its major peers, after the latest jobs report painted a mixed picture of the nation’s labour market.
Non-farm payrolls in the US rose less-than-anticipated by 98.0K in March, adding the least number of jobs in ten months, as inclement weather weighed on the nation’s job growth. Non-farm payrolls had registered a revised gain of 219.0K in the previous month, while markets expected for an advance of 180.0K. However, the nation’s unemployment rate unexpectedly fell to a nearly ten-year low level of 4.5% in March, whereas markets anticipated unemployment rate to remain unchanged at 4.7%. Also, the nation’s average hourly earnings of all employees advanced 0.2% on a monthly basis in March, meeting market consensus and compared to a revised rise of 0.3% in the prior month.
In other economic news, consumer credit in the US climbed to a level of $15.2 billion in February, compared to a level of $10.9 billion in the previous month. Further, the nation’s final wholesale inventories advanced 0.4% in February, in line with market expectations and following a similar rise in the preceding month.
In the Asian session, at GMT0300, the pair is trading at 1.0574, with the EUR trading 0.17% lower against the USD from Friday’s close.
The pair is expected to find support at 1.0539, and a fall through could take it to the next support level of 1.0505. The pair is expected to find its first resistance at 1.0637, and a rise through could take it to the next resistance level of 1.0701.
Going ahead, investors will look forward to the Euro-zone’s Sentix investor confidence index for April, slated to release in a few hours. Moreover, a speech by the US Federal Reserve Chair, Janet Yellen, due later today, will also be closely watched by traders.
The currency pair is trading below its 20 Hr and 50 Hr moving averages.
