The Euro tipped higher for the fifth day and rallied to a high of 1.3041 during the overnight trade, but the intraday advance appears to be losing steam going into the North American session as European policy makers maintain a cautious outlook for the region.
Pound support continues to gather steam as U.K. banks received passing grades following stress tests and improving fundamentals point toward continues growth. Concern had been that the government’s efforts to reduce the budget could put the economy at risk for a double dip recession.
It is practically not worth talking about any market specific fundamentals or economic releases, with the market seemingly content in moving in one direction and one direction only as the Euro once again ascends to fresh multi-day highs against the buck beyond 1.2800 thus far.
A weaker-than-expected retail sales report took the steam out of the dollar on Wednesday despite an encouraging start to the so-called “earnings week” rally. The euro managed to climb above $1.27 to $1.2714 as the dollar fell against most major currencies.
The message coming out of the US this morning suggests that the US economy is still on the path to recovery, but at a slower pace than previously expected. Businesses are starting to spend again, but consumers remain cautious and this will likely slow the rate of recovery in the US.
