Euro to US Dollar (EUR/USD) Exchange Rate Weakens on Strong US data

March 26, 2015 - Written by Frank Davies

STORY LINK Euro to US Dollar (EUR/USD) Exchange Rate Weakens on Strong US data

The Euro exchange rate gave up earlier gains against the US Dollar following the release of better than forecast jobless claims and Markit compiled purchasing managers index (PMI) reports.

Earlier in the session the Euro to Dollar exchange rate advanced as it benefited from data which showed that consumer confidence in Germany climbed to a 13-year high in March.

As the session progressed, the US Dollar regained the losses occurred earlier in the week which were caused by growing speculation that the Federal Reserve will not hike interest rates until September. Some economists raised their bets that a hike will not occur until 2016 due to a run of disappointing US economic data releases and dovish comments made by Fed policy makers.

The currency’s fortunes changed however, after the Washington based Labour Department released data showing that fewer Americans than forecast filed for unemployment benefits last week. Improving weather conditions were said to be the main driver for the reduction in claims.

The report showed that the number of initial claimants declined by 9,000 to 282,000 in the week ending on March 21. Economists had been expecting a figure of 290,000. Continuing claims rose 12,000 between the February and March survey periods, suggesting little change in the jobless rate. The fall in the claimant count suggests that US employers are holding on to workers and are actively searching for new staff, it also suggests that wages are likely to rise over the coming months and puts pressure on the Federal Reserve to hike interest rates.

Also supporting the ‘Greenback’ was a separate report, which showed that the US services PMI surged to its best level in six-months. The PMI rose to a reading of 58.6 in March, a strong increase from the preceding month’s figure of 57.1 and was far better than the fall to 55.75 expected by economists.

‘The US economy is showing signs of regaining momentum after the slowdown seen at the turn of the year. The flash PMI surveys are registering faster growth of both service sector and factory activity at the end of the first quarter as well as ongoing strong hiring. While weak economic data for the first quarter will keep Fed rate hikes at bay in the coming months, ruling out a June hike, the upturn in second quarter GDP signalled by the recent PMI data ups the odds of interest rates starting to rise at the September FOMC meeting,’ said Markit.

Euro Exchange Rates Today

The Euro to Australian Dollar exchange rate today is converting -0.49 per cent lower at 1.39349 EUR/AUD.
The Euro to Canadian Dollar exchange rate today is converting -0.86 per cent lower at 1.36170 EUR/CAD.
The Euro to Swiss Franc exchange rate today is converting -0.31 per cent lower at 1.04976 EUR/CHF.
The Euro to Chinese Yuan exchange rate is -0.39 pct lower with a conversion rate of 1 EUR equals 6.78415 CNY.
The Euro to Czech Koruna exchange rate is +0.38 pct higher with a conversion rate of 1 EUR equals 27.47893 CZK.
The Euro to Pound Sterling exchange rate is -0.16 pct lower with a conversion rate of 1 EUR equals 0.73576 GBP.
The Euro to Hong Kong Dollar conversion rate is -0.37 pct lower at 8.47079 EUR/HKD.
The Euro to Israeli Sheqel exchange rate converts -0.14 per cent lower at 1 EUR is 4.32202 ILS.
The Euro to Japanese Yen exchange rate converts -0.83 per cent lower at 1 EUR is 129.93797 JPY.
The Euro to Mexican Peso conversion rate is +0.18 pct higher at 16.47828 EUR/MXN.
The Euro to Norwegian Krone exchange rate today is converting +0.08 per cent higher at 8.60973 EUR/NOK.
The Euro to New Zealand Dollar conversion rate is -0.44 pct lower at 1.43904 EUR/NZD.
The Euro to Polish Zloty exchange rate is -0.03 pct lower with a conversion rate of 1 EUR equals 4.08008 PLN.
The Euro to Swedish Krona exchange rate today is converting +0.32 per cent higher at 9.33944 EUR/SEK.
The Euro to Singapore Dollar exchange rate is -0.52 pct lower with a conversion rate of 1 EUR equals 1.49468 SGD.
The Euro to Turkish Lira exchange rate converts -0.27 per cent lower at 1 EUR is 2.82864 TRY.
The Euro to US Dollar exchange rate converts -0.37 per cent lower at 1 EUR is 1.09232 USD.
The Euro to South African Rand exchange rate converts +0.18 per cent higher at 1 EUR is 13.01332 ZAR.

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