The Euro US Dollar exchange rate has risen marginally today in the calm before the afternoon’s US housing data – does the report have the potential to reverse current trading and trigger a US Dollar advance?
- EUR USD rate rises to 1.05 – USD EUR drops to 0.94
- Euro appreciates on French confidence news – Stability reassures EUR investors
- US Dollar softens as US-Mexico relations fray – Controversial deportation expansion remains in focus
- French jobless claims stats incoming – Forecast drop in US confidence could soften USD
The release of France’s consumer confidence score for February saw the Euro advance marginally against the US Dollar.
While the 100 point result was the same as in January, this nonetheless remains at a 9-year high for France, the best result since before the late 2000’s financial crisis.
The other recent influencer over the Euro has been European Central Bank (ECB) official Peter Praet, who warned on Thursday that US President Donald Trump’s narratives on the economy were worrying due to their ‘simplicity’.
This overt criticism lowered US Dollar demand on Thursday, while more recent tensions between Mexican and US officials have only amplified USD losses.
As well as remaining at loggerhead over who will pay for the proposed US-Mexico border wall (and how it will be funded), officials have also clashed over the latest alarming plans to deport illegal immigrants to Mexico, even if they only passed through the country to get to the US and did not originate there.
This spat has exacerbated tensions between the two nations and threatens to see Trump’s much-vaunted border wall become a ‘white elephant’ for the US economy if no recompense can be sourced from Mexico.
Looking ahead to future Eurozone news, incoming Italian consumer and business confidence stats are expected, which have Euro-boosting gains forecast for both fields.
The last Eurozone data before the weekend will cover French unemployment benefit claims in January, which previously saw a 26.1k rise in December 2016.
US data will cover the finalised University of Michigan confidence score for January, along with new home sales figures for the same month.
A drop in confidence from 98.5 to 96 is expected, while new home sales are set to rise notably from -10.4% to 7.2%.
As the homes sales stats are considered high-impact, a forecast-matching rise may be enough to trigger a sharp USD EUR appreciation before trading closes for the weekend.
Current EUR USD Interbank Exchange Rates
At the time of writing, the Euro US Dollar (EUR USD) exchange rate was trending in the region of 1.05 and the US Dollar Euro (USD EUR) exchange rate was trending in the region of 0.94 today.
