The Euro came under heavy sell pressure in the wake of comments made by an ECB official regarding the economic need for additional stimulus. For the last three weeks, the Euro had been edging higher, but analysts say that FX traders were really looking for any reason to begin profit taking which left the single currency vulnerable to a sell off. Next week, the ECB will hand down its latest policy decision and the thinking is that Ewald Nowotny’s comments could be laying the foundation for major easing efforts.
As reported at 11:57 am (BDT) in London, the EUR/USD was trading at $1.1443, a loss of 0.33%; the pair ranged from $1.1424 to $1.1498 in today’s trade. The EUR/GBP was also lower at 0.7385 Pence, down 0.37%, a few pips off the session trough of 0.7383 Pence.
Kiwi Dollar Gets a Lift from Dented Dollar
The US Dollar had also come under pressure in the Asian and European sessions in the wake of disappointing economic news. That helped some commodity-linked currencies, specifically the New Zealand Dollar, to recover some recent losses. The NZD/USD was trading 1.06% higher at $0.6871, moving away from the session peak of $0.6897, a 3½ month peak. Generally, trades are wary of the commodity-linked currencies given the growing sense that China is experiencing a hard slowdown.