Euro slides after disappointing data

The Euro has started on the backfoot against the US dollar as the new trading week gets underway after a disappointing round of economic data released earlier this morning and now all eyes will be on the release of the all-important durable goods figure from the US.

The data published by the European Commission revealed on Monday that the Economic Sentiment Indicator in the Euro area edged lower to 99.7 in February from 99.8 in January, compared to analysts' estimate of 101, and remained unchanged at 97.8 in the EU.

Further details of the publication showed that the Industrial Confidence in the Euro area declined to 0.5 from 1.2, the Services Sentiment advanced to 9.5 from 1.4 and the Consumer Confidence Index came in at -19, which was in line with expectations.

The European currency is now sitting below the critical 1.06 mark and many analysts don’t see any short-term hope and the currency may revisit levels against the greenback not seen since November 2022.

"We are maintaining our short EUR/USD trade idea. The pair has broken back below the 1.06000-level over the past week and we expect it to fall back towards support from the 200-day moving average that comes in at around 1.0330," says Lee Hardman, a senior currency analyst at MUFG.

Looking further ahead today, the main driver as already mentioned will be the release od the durable goods order figure from the US and is expected to show that headline orders declined by 4% during the reported month, down sharply from the 5.6% rise reported in December. Orders excluding transportation items, which most in the market will be watching are expected to hit the market at 0.1percent, up from last month’s figure of -0.2 percent.