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EUR/USD trades near 4-week low on NFP miss, China CPI
article originally appeared on fxpros
The euro fell against the U.S. dollar on Monday, dropping to the lowest level since mid-March as Friday’s dismal U.S. jobs report and Chinese data showing inflation accelerating at a faster pace than expected pressured risk appetite.
EUR/USD hit 1.3034 during late Asian trade, the session low and the lowest since March 15; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.3059, shedding 0.28%.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.3003, the low from March 15 and resistance at 1.3163, the high from April 5.
The U.S. Department of Labor said Friday that nonfarm payrolls rose by a meager 120,000 in March, the lowest since December and well below expectations for a 203,000 increase.
It was the first time since November that hiring failed to top the 200,000 level, renewing concerns over the health of the U.S. economy.
The unemployment rate ticked down to 8.2%, the lowest since January 2009, from 8.3% in February. However, the data showed that the decline stemmed entirely from people dropping out of the labor force.
Meanwhile, official data released earlier showed that consumer price inflation in China accelerated by 3.6% in March, up from 3.2% in February and above expectations for a 3.3% increase.
The higher-than-expected reading dampened expectations Beijing will introduce fresh monetary easing measures to prop up the world’s second largest economy.
Elsewhere, the euro was lower against the pound and the yen, with EUR/GBP slipping 0.21% to hit 0.8233 and EUR/JPY slumping 0.51% to hit 106.37.
Trading volumes were expected to be thin as markets in the euro zone will remain closed due to the Easter holiday.
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