A bunch of uneven economic data came out on Wednesday, as Euro zone retail sales rose in October, business activity in the region's services sector fell, while Greece rejected Troika's demand to raise taxes and cut incomes in the 2015 budget. The country opposes Troika's demand to revise the 2015 budget, saying that measures proposed by international creditors would undermine the country's fragile recovery, as it has just emerged from a deep economic recession. Nevertheless, Euro area's retail sales returned to growth in the beginning of the final quarter, increasing 0.4% on month in October and 1.4% on an annual basis, indicating rising demand from households.
Meanwhile, activity in the services sector of the 18-nation bloc eased, with the services PMI falling to 51.1 in November, down from 52.3 a month earlier. France's services sector remained weak in November, with the corresponding reading coming in at 47.9, while Germany's services activity slowed to the lowest level in 16 months, as Markit's services PMI fell to 52.1 compared with October's 54.4 reading. However, Spain saw business activity in the sector growing for a 13th month in a row and Italy's services sector remained in the green territory. Overall, Markit's final Composite PMI fell to 51.1 in November, indicating that heavy discounting failed to stop Euro zone's business activity growing less than expected last month and suggesting the region's economy may contract again early next year.
US data to dominate on markets on Friday
Opposite to Thursday, when the bunch of economic data from Europe is likely to have a considerable impact on the shared currency's performance, on Friday the EUR/USD currency pair will be driven mostly by statistics from North America. US statistical authorities will publish data on average hourly earnings, non-farm payrolls, trade balance, factory orders and unemployment rate. The only Eurozone's data will be the revised Q3 GDP growth, which is not considered as important and unpredictable by the market.EUR/USD set for decline after confirmation of triangle pattern
The long-term outlook for the EUR/USD remains bearish, as the cross has been moving downwards since the beginning of July and on December 3 has eventually breached the triangle pattern to the south. Moreover, it has reached a new 2014 low at 1.23. Any negative impetus will push the cross down below this important level, with a long-term goal at 1.2098 (monthly S3). At the same time, right now the pair is also limited by the monthly S1 at 1.2339 from the upside.Daily chart
From the perspective of hourly chart, the EUR/USD has just crossed one of the most important support levels, represented by the 2014 low. Moreover, the pair went down further and set the new minimum level at 1.23, which is located just above the weekly S2. Technical indicators on a weekly time-frame are still giving bearish signals, meaning that we are likely to observe a continuation of the Euro's depreciation versus the Buck.
Hourly chart