Cable Weakened On Tuesday Despite Upbeat Employment Report

 | Apr 17, 2019 09:23

h2 EURUSD

The euro weakened on Tuesday, closing at 1.1284 (-19 pips) against the greenback. The greenback finished Tuesday in a relatively mixed direction, up against European and safe-haven rivals, and down against commodity-linked currency, as market players struggled again to find directional catalysts.

The shared currency came under selling pressure early London amid headlines indicating that several European Central Bank policymakers think that the bank’s economic projections are too optimistic as growth weakness in China and trade tensions persist, raising doubts about growth's estimates for the second half of the year.

The April ZEW survey, on the contrary, gave a first, timid sign of a possible rebound in German's economy, as economic sentiment improved in the country, rising to 3.1 from a previous -3.6, while for the Union, the index came in at 4.5 from a previous-2.5. On a down note, the survey showed that the assessment of the current situation was downbeat, down to 5.5 vs. the 8.0 expected and the previous 11.1.

According to the official report, the slight improvement was largely based on the hope that the global economic environment will develop less poorly than previously assumed. Risk appetite kept the pair afloat during the first half of the day, but weighed on it in the US session, as Wall Street reached fresh yearly highs in pre-opening trading, but failed to hold on to such gains. In the US, Industrial Production contracted 0.1% in March from a month earlier, HILE the Capacity Utilization Rate eased to 78.8% in the same period, both figures missing the market's expectations.

The EU will release its February Trade Balance and March inflation data this Thursday, none of them expected to rock the boat. The US will also publish its February Trade Balance, and Mortgage Applications for last week.

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