Euro Rallies on German Retail Sales and Euro Area PMIs, Later Falls

The euro today rallied higher against the US dollar in the early European session following the release of upbeat German retail sales data and euro area PMIs. The EUR/USD currency pair later fell as the greenback rallied amid rising US-Iran tensions and the release of upbeat US PMI data by Markit Economics.
The EUR/USD currency pair today rallied from a low of 1.1157 in the Asian session to a high of 1.1205 in the mid-European session before giving up some of its gains.
The currency pair traded sideways during the Asian session amid a lack of strong fundamental drivers. However, the pair rallied higher following the release of the upbeat German retail sales data for November by Federal Statistical Office. The monthly retail sales print came in at 2.1% beating expectations set at 1.0% by a wide margin. The release of the Markit Germany Services PMI for December, which came in at 52.9 versus the expected 52.0 also boosted the pair. The Markit eurozone services PMI also came in at 52.8 eating expectations by 0.4, which lifted the single currency. The Markit Spain Services PMI also beat consensus estimates.
The release of the upbeat eurozone producer price index data by Eurostat also contributed to the pair’s rally. The upbeat Sentix eurozone investor confidence survey for January also boosted the pair. The pair later fell after the release of Markit US Services PMI for December, which beat analysts estimates.
The currency pair’s short-term performance is likely to be affected by geopolitical event and tomorrow’s multiple eurozone releases.
The EUR/USD currency pair was trading at 1.1190 as at 17:10 GMT having risen from a low of 1.1157. The EUR/JPY currency pair was trading at 121.27 having risen from a low of 120.45.

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