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Euro holds gains above 1.1550 following Eurozone GDP and bright Trade Balance data

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milkahnjiru12
  • EUR/USD bounces up above 1.1550 from Thursday’s lows near 1.1500.
  • Eurozone GDP confirmed a 0.4% economic growth in the first quarter.
  • The US Dollar struggles as recent inflation data eases pressure on the Fed to hike interest rates.

The Euro (EUR) holds moderate gains against the US Dollar (USD) on Friday, as Eurozone Gross Domestic Product (GDP) came in line with market forecasts while June’s Trade Balance beat forecasts. The EUR/USD pair has returned above 1.1550 with the US Dollar losing ground across the board as US inflation data has curbed hopes of immediate Federal Reserve (Fed) rate hikes.

The second estimate of the Eurozone GDP has confirmed that the economy grew at a 0.4% pace in the second quarter, following a flat performance in the first three months of the year. Compared with last year’s second quarter, the Eurozone economy has grown 1%, according to Eurostat’s data, up from the 0.5% yearly growth rate seen in the previous quarter.

At the same time, the European official statistics office revealed that the number of employed workers grew at a steady 0.1% rate in the Eurozone in the second quarter, and 0.5% year on year, also meeting previous estimations.

Eurozone Trade balance surprises positively

Furthermore, the Eurozone Trade Balance surprised with a EUR 8.6 billion surplus in June, following a EUR 9 billion deficit in May , and beating expectations of a EUR 2.2 billion deficit forecasted by market experts.

The US Dollar, on the other hand, is losing ground heading into the US Retail Sales. release, which is expected to show a 0.1% uptick in July, after a 0.2% gain in June. Apart from that, the University of Michigan survey is foreseen to be little changed in August.

FX Strategists at ING state that these are “second-tier releases” that would “likely need to deliver significant surprises to trigger a meaningful dollar reaction,” reinforcing the sense that, absent a major data shock, the Dollar is unlikely to break decisively from its current, relatively stable trading pattern.

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