Though every FX player believes they know what the head of the European Central Bank might do next, it doesn’t prevent wariness of a surprise. Mario Draghi has, in the past, caught markets unaware when he failed to follow through even on his own past promises. Now, markets are intent on scrutinizing his every word, move and nuance later today as the ECB head takes center stage. The Euro was able to recover some recently lost ground in the wake of last week’s stellar US jobs figures which boosted the greenback.
As reported at 10:52 am (GMT) in London, the EUR/USD was trading at $1.0744, a gain of 0.19%. In today’s trading, the pair has ranged from $1.0721 to $1.0777. The EUR/GBP was trading at 0.7084 Pence, a loss of 0.11%.
UK Wages Data a Mixed Bag
In the U.K., the latest wages data came in mixed, with the unemployment rate unexpectedly falling to 5.3% from 5.4%. However, average earnings disappointed, both with and without bonuses, and failed in both cases to meet analysts’ expectations. The Bank of England’s monetary policy generally follows that of the Federal Reserve; however analysts feel these figures don’t seem to support a more hawkish BoE. The GBP/USD pair was trading higher at $1.5162, near the upper end of the day’s trading range.