EUR/USD – Limited Movement in Holiday Trading

EUR/USD is showing little movement on Thursday, as the pair trades in the mid-1.24 range. US markets are closed for Thanksgiving, so traders can expect thin trading during the day. On the release front, German Unemployment Change beat expectations with a reading of -14 thousand. Spanish CPI declined by 0.4%. Later in the day, Germany releases Preliminary CPI, a key event which could affect the movement of EUR/USD. The markets are anticipating a flat reading of 0.0%.

The US released a host of key data on Wednesday and the numbers were weak across-the-board. Unemployment Claims jumped to 313 thousand, its highest level since mid-September. Core Durable Goods Orders declined 0.9%, its third decline in four readings. The estimate stood at 0.5%. New Home Sales fell to a 3-month low, dropping to 458 thousand. This was short of the estimate of 471 thousand. Pending Home Sales was no better, declining by 1.1%, well off the estimate of 0.9%. There was better news from UoM Consumer Sentiment, which posted a fourth straight gain, rising to 88.8 points. However, this was short of the estimate of 90.2 points. Despite the disappointing numbers, the euro was unable to make inroads against the dollar.

German indicators continue to point upwards. Unemployment Change came in at 14 thousand, much stronger than the estimate of -1K. Ifo Business Climate rose to 104.7 points in November. Importantly, this reading snapped a streak of six straight declines. ZEW Economic Sentiment jumped 11.5 points, crushing the estimate of 0.9 points. This strong optimism is somewhat puzzling, given that inflation and growth levels in the Eurozone’s largest economy remain weak. At the same time, increasing confidence in the German economy could translate into stronger German numbers, which would help boost the ailing Eurozone.

EUR/USD 1.2474 H: 1.2525 L: 1.2465