EUR/USD Exchange Rate Falls as French Exports Suffer in July
The Euro to US Dollar (EUR/USD) exchange rate fell by -0.3% today following the release of the latest French trade data, which revealed that the trade deficit had widened in July, with exports falling and imports only marginally improving. The pairing is currently fluctuating around $1.18.
Maria Martinez, writing for Market Watch, commented on the data:
‘Across the 19 countries that use the euro as their currency, gross domestic product expanded by 2.2% from the previous quarter, Eurostat said Tuesday as it reported its third estimate for the period. According to the second estimate, the economy had grown by 2.0%.
‘The European Union’s statistics office revised the on-year figure for the first quarter to a 1.2% contraction from the 1.3% drop previously estimated.’
As a result, confidence in the outlook for the Eurozone economy has dwindled, especially after the latest German ZEW survey of economic sentiment fell below forecasts earlier this week.
The EUR/USD exchange rate suffered as a result of mixed Eurozone economic data.
US Dollar (USD) Exchange Rate Benefits from Increasing US Job Openings
The US Dollar (USD) has benefited from souring risk sentiment today, with concerns about the Delta Covid-19 variant along with others potentially being resistant to vaccinations.
As a result, demand for the safe-haven ‘Greenback’ has risen. Additionally, yesterday saw the release of the US ten-year Treasury Yields, which rose to 1.375%.
Maggie Fitzgerald and Vicky McKeever, writing for CNBC, said:
‘Treasury yields continued to climb on Tuesday, despite Friday’s nonfarm payrolls report coming in short of expectations. The jobs report showed 235,000 payrolls were created in August, well below the 720,000 jobs forecast by economists.’
In US economic news, today saw the release of the US job openings data, which hit a new record in July.
Alexander Bueso, writing for ShareCast, said:
‘The number of job openings in the US hit a fresh record high in July despite slower hiring as Americans increasingly chose to ‘quit’ their current employment.
‘According to the Department of Labor, in seasonally adjusted terms, the number of job openings jumped at a month-on-month pace of 7.4% to reach approximately 10.93m.’
Euro US Dollar (EUR/USD) Exchange Rate Forecast, Could Rising US Employment Boost the ‘Greenback’?
US Dollar (USD) traders will be looking ahead to tomorrow’s release of the latest US initial jobless data for September.
Any indications of rising levels of employment would drive-up the USD/EUR exchange rate.
Tomorrow will also see a speech from the US Federal Reserve’s John C Williams, who is the president of the Fed Bank of New York.
Could a bullish attitude about the US economy see the US Dollar benefit?
Euro (EUR) traders will eye tomorrow’s European Central Bank (ECB) interest rate decision, which is expected to remain at 0%. But a dovish statement from the bank would see the single currency suffer.