The Euro dropped to below $1.20 against the U.S. Dollar during Asian trading on Monday as investors await key Eurozone data to get a hint on what actions the European Central Bank might be forced to take in order to return the Eurozone’s economy to sound health. Inflation data for the Eurozone as a whole is expected out on Wednesday but ahead of then will be Germany’s consumer inflation data which is likely to be viewed as a good indicator; analysts polled have forecast CPI to have fallen in December to 0.3% annually from 0.6%.
As reported at 9:11 (GMT) in London, the EUR/USD was trading near its session low at $1.1915, moving away from the trading day peak at $1.917; the EUR/JPY was also lower at 143.4805 Yen. Also weighing on the Euro is the likelihood of a snap election in Greece that could destabilize the economy; in 2014, the Euro lost nearly 12% of its value against the greenback.
Fed Minutes Loom
Investors also expect to see the growing divergence between major central banks, with the Federal Reserve minutes released mid-week which will help traders assess when the Fed intends to raise interest rates. The U.S. Dollar has surged broadly over the past several months on those expectations.