The Euro remained close to a 3-year peak versus the US Dollar after the latest data proved that growth in the Eurozone last year was at its strongest level in almost seven years. The struggling US Dollar was unable to glean any support from an unexpectedly upbeat labor report from ADP as market players are focused on today’s release of US employment data from the US Labor Department. Yesterday, ADP reported 250,000 new jobs added against a forecast of 190,000.
As reported at 9:05 am (JST) in Tokyo, the EUR/USD was trading at $1.2073, a slight gain of 0.01%, slipping from the session peak of $1.2076. The EUR/GBP was trading at 0.8903 Pence, down 0.07%; the pair has ranged from a low of 0.88990 Pence to a peak of 0.89113 Pence in this session.
Labor Data Key to Dollar Sentiment
Currently, analysts are forecasting that the unemployment rate will be flat at 4.1% while new private sector jobs are predicted to have fallen to 190,000 in December, down from 228,000 in November. Analysts say that if the figures are as upbeat as ADP’s, that could provide some much-needed support for the greenback, especially if there is some wage growth as well. Whether that support would be sustainable against the Euro is up for debate, analysts say, with the Euro recently seeing consistent gains.