EUR/USD (current price: 1.1380)
The Euro rose by 0.4% compared to the U.S. Dollar and turned out to be the strongest major currency of the day. German Retail Sales came in at -0.4%, much worse than the expected 0.3% advance. Despite some other mixed releases from France and Spain, the common currency mostly ignored economic news during the morning session, as traders were waiting for the more important U.S. announcements. Weekly Unemployment Claims rose unexpectedly to 276,000, but remain well below the crucial 300,000 level that is widely watched by investors as a sign of trouble for the economy.
Our assessment: The pair advanced on every session of the week so far and might finish above 1.14, after hitting a 6-month high yesterday. All eyes are the jobs report and traders should expect high volatility around the release as usual.
