Euro Rallies Against US Dollar on Weak US Employment Data

The euro today rallied against the US dollar following the release of disappointing US non-farm payrolls report for March. Earlier Markit Economics PMI releases covering the European docket had triggered the euro’s initial uptrend following a major decline during the Asian session.
The EUR/USD currency pair gained over 60 points to rally from a low of 1.2215 to a high of 1.2280 at the time of writing.
The currency pair had rallied briefly earlier following the release of the Markit Germany Retail PMI, which came in at 51.5, slightly lower than the previous 53.8. The Markit Eurozone Retail PMI also came in at 50.1 as compared to the previous 52.3. Investor sentiment towards the single currency was positive despite the weak Eurozone data due to the trade war fears in the USA. The weak German industrial production data released by the Federal Statistical Office contributed to the pair’s earlier decline.
The release of the US non-farm payrolls report by the Bureau of Labor Statistics was the main trigger behind the pair’s latest rally. The NFP report indicated that the US economy added 103,000 new jobs in March, which was much lower than the expected 185,000 jobs. The US unemployment rate also exceeded expectations by coming in at 4.1% as compared to the consensus estimate of 4.0%. The average hourly earnings print was in line with expectations.
Given the upcoming weekend, the currency pair’s future performance is likely to be influenced by the ongoing US-China trade war escalation and other political events.
The EUR/USD currency pair was trading at 1.2272 as at 17:31 GMT having rallied from a low of 1.2215. The EUR/JPY currency pair was trading at 131.44 having risen from a low of 131.10.

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