Foreign exchange: Euro exchange rate barely changed against the US dollar

FRANKFURT (dpa-AFX) – The euro exchange rate barely changed on Thursday after a significant increase the day before. In the morning, the amount was traded at 1.1084 US dollars, almost the same as the previous evening. The European Central Bank (ECB) last set the reference rate at 1.1050 dollars on Wednesday afternoon.

Weak data from the US labor market had weighed on the dollar the day before, while the euro had risen in return. In July, the number of job vacancies fell to its lowest level since January 2021. The data indicate a cooling of the US labor market. A weaker labor market could reduce wage pressure and thus make it easier for the US Federal Reserve (Fed) to fight inflation.

On the foreign exchange market, interest is generally focused on economic data, from which investors hope to gain clues about the US Federal Reserve's future monetary policy. They are waiting, among other things, for the ADP data in the early afternoon, the conclusion on private sector employment in the US and the weekly initial jobless claims. The ISM purchasing managers' index for the US services sector will also be noticed in the afternoon and could move prices.

But the real interest lies in the US government's monthly labor market report. “A weak US labor market report on Friday would probably be the deciding factor in the markets settling on a 0.5 percentage point step,” commented experts at Dekabank.

The experts at Landesbank Hessen-Thüringen (Helaba) continue to consider a major interest rate hike of 0.5 percentage points by the US Federal Reserve to be unlikely.