Euro had turned defensive at the start of the week as French and Dutch political concerns added to data weakness to fuel a strong risk-off tone to markets, global stocks down hard and US stocks tracking along. Despite talk of Asian sovereign buys around $1.3130, euro wasted little time easing lower but based at $1.3120 around the ECB fixing as bids cushioned, allowing a modest bounce to $1.3145 ahead of option expiry. From there, euro turned south again, sliding to $1.3104 as stops under $1.3120/10 were targeted and tripped, bringing bids at $1.3100 into view. Rebound from there lifted to $1.3135 area, squeezing a few intra-day shorts, but euro settled back to $1.3125 around midday, steadying around there before heading higher into the afternoon. A slow creep higher left euro around $1.3145 late in the day.
EasyForexNews Research Team