"The global slowdown in the first quarter, the euro's strength and geopolitical tensions are weighing on consumer and industrial confidence"
-Pernille Bomholdt Nielsen, an analyst at Danske Bank
On Friday, the EUR/USD currency pair was trading around 1.3611, just slightly above a major level of 1.36 and daily pivot at 1.3609. While these levels can stop pair's depreciation for some time, more losses are on the radar, with inflation figures release on Monday and ECB's meeting scheduled for Thursday. Thus, bears can move the pair towards weekly pivot at 1.3582 and then weekly S1 at 1.3521.
While Friday is usually a calm day for European currencies, a report from the European Commission pushed the single currency lower. Data showed that European consumers felt less optimistic in June, as tensions in Ukraine and persistent weakness in the 18-nation's bloc's economy hindered efforts by the ECB to boost growth and lending. A gauge of consumer and executive sentiment sank to 102 from a revised 102.6 in May, missing analysts' expectations for an increase to 103. The European Central Bank introduced a range of unprecedented stimulus measures, including a revision of all three interest rates and an extension of its lending programmes. Nonetheless, Mario Draghi's efforts were undercut by the violent conflict in Ukraine. A separate report from Bloomberg showed that Eurozone economy will expand 0.3% in the second and third quarter, and will accelerate to 0.4% in the final three months.
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