Around 9:00 p.m. the euro lost 0.15% to 1.0789 dollars.
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The euro fell back against the dollar on Thursday, hitting a new low since April 2017, while the yen weakened further.
Around 8:00 p.m. GMT (9:00 p.m. in Paris), the euro lost 0.15% to 1.0789 dollars, after falling around 07.20 GMT to 1.0778 dollars, a level seen more in almost three years.
“On the foreign exchange front, the euro sales movement gained new momentum after the German Gfk barometer showed deterioration in consumer sentiment,” said Ipek Ozkardeskaya, analyst for Swissquote Bank.
According to this indicator, German consumer sentiment should fall slightly to 9.8 points in March, down 0.1 points from February, but still higher than in January (9.7 points).
Lately, the European currency has suffered on several occasions from not very encouraging data in Germany, economic engine of the euro zone.
“Forex traders will take a close look (Friday) at the PMI indicators for the month of February, which could influence the direction of the euro in the short term,” said Brendan McKenna of Wells Fargo.
“Growth forecasts have played a greater role than interest rates in the latest currency movements,” said Kit Juckes, analyst for Societe Generale.
And “the coronavirus crisis does not help the euro either, Europe being more sensitive than the United States to concerns related to world trade,” he added.
On this subject, China announced Thursday a spectacular drop in new contaminations to the new coronavirus.
The yen, traditionally considered a safe haven, continued to decline against the other major currencies on Thursday, after having already suffered significantly on Wednesday.
Against the euro it lost 0.45% and against the dollar 0.62%.
Besides the epidemic of coronavirus which could have an impact on the economy, “several analysts believe that the economy of Japan is on the brink of recession, after the latest GDP figure indicated a reduction in the size of the saving around 6.3% from one year to the next, ”said Ricardo Evangelista, for ActivTrades.
Thursday lessons Wednesday lessons
8:00 p.m. GMT 10:00 p.m. GMT
EUR / USD 1.0789 1.0805
EUR / JPY 120.90 120.33
EUR / CHF 1.0615 1.0633
EUR / GBP 0.8378 0.8363
USD / JPY 112.06 111.37
USD / CHF 0.9839 0.9841
GBP / USD 1.2878 1.2920
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