On Wednesday the single currency was higher against the fragile dollar, as market players awaited the minutes of the Federal
Reserve’s March meeting later in the session.
EUR/USD was at 1.0864, up 0.46% for the day.
Concerns that the US economy is slowing have weighed on the dollar. Friday’s surprisingly weak jobs report reinforced the view that the recovery is slowing, following a string of other soft economic reports. The weak figures prompted investors to push back expectations for a rate hike to later in the year from midyear.
Later in the day, market participants were looking to the minutes for any indications that Fed officials are concerned over the impact of the strong dollar on the economic recovery.
The euro indicated little reaction after data on Wednesday showed that euro zone retail sales fell in February, snapping four straight months of gains.
The European Union’s statistics agency Eurostat reported that retail sales fell 0.2% in February, in line with market expectations. On a year-over-year basis, retail sales rose 3.0%, also in line with forecasts.
The report said gasoline sales fell for the first time since September, indicating that the boost to consumer spending from lower oil prices may be waning.
The common currency was flat against the yen, with EUR/JPY at 130.2 while USD/JPY was down 0.48% to 119.73.
The Japanese currency was boosted after the Bank of Japan decided to leave monetary policy unchanged earlier Wednesday despite a slowdown in inflation.
