Euro Fell Slightly

Friday, Euro declined after the biggest gain in a month despite the announcement of the ECB’s surprise stimulus measures. Mr Draghi has excluded cutting interest rates again, which reinforces concerns, as officials in Europe and Japan have less ground to weaken their currencies and raise the rate of inflation.

“The European Central Bank has not run out of tools to boost the economy and will continue to support it until it reaches its inflation target of almost 2%” ECB Governing Council member Erkki Liikanen said. Such statement negatively affected the Euro.

It appears likely that the euro may remain stable against USD at levels of $1.11 and $1.12 during today’s trading session.

USD was traded under pressure, as import prices decreased in February from the prior month; it was their eighth consecutive monthly decline.

USD was nearly flat at 114 against JPY at the end of the trading session on Friday. The U.S. dollar index declined to 96.23 to trade above 95.94.

Investors expect the BOJ to keep policies unchanged during its next meeting this Tuesday. However, the BOJ may surprise the markets again and cut interest rates, as it failed to reduce the levels of the yen.

GBP extended its gains against USD and broke levels of $1.44 thanks to a weak US dollar.

Gold jumped to its highest level in 13 month’s on Friday, before returning to $1,250. ECB’s statements negatively affected gold. However, the yellow metal may trade within a narrow range of $1.250 during today’s trading session.

WTI was trading at $38, and may re-test levels of $40 this week.

Disclaimer
The prices and news mentioned in this outlook are absolutely no guarantee of future market performance and do not represent the view of ICM Capital Limited. Financial markets can move in either direction causing profits to be made or complete losses to be incurred by the trader. Each trader must decide for themselves what their risk appetite is and ensure that correct risk management procedures are in place before placing any trades.