EUR/USD in Desperate Tug-of-War, Eurozone in Trade Surplus, US Data is Key Event on the Horizon

The Euro is looking week on Friday morning:

• The Euro Dollar exchange rate is 0.06 pct lower than seen at last night's closing level; EUR/USD is at 1.3339.
• The Euro Pound exchange rate is 0.08 pct lower at 0.8527.
• The Euro Australian Dollar exchange rate is 0.47 pct lower at 1.4533.

Be aware: The above quotes are taken from the wholesale spot markets, your bank will affix a discretionary spread to their retail offer. However, an independent FX provider will guarantee to undercut your bank's offer, thus delivering up to 5% more currency. Please find out more here.

Euro Dollar exchange rate trapped in tight ranges

Emmanuel Ng at OCBC Bank says dips in the EUR/USD exchange rate may remain shallow:

"The tug of war between EZ and US data releases may keep the EUR-USD trapped in recent ranges although an inherently more bullish Fed is expected to win the day with regards to this currency pair.

"In the near term, the 1.3400 cap remains in place, with significant support expected at 1.3200. As long as the broad dollar remains less than fully committed, any potential positive news flow out of the EZ may continue to
keep dips in the pair shallow."

US data is key for Euro / Dollar trading from here

As mentioned in today's live coverage, US data points will be keenly watched.

The big release is the Reuters/Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index due at 14:55 London time.

Conensus forecasts are for a reading of 85.5 - anything either side will surely shake the US dollar.

Craig Erlam at Alpari UK says:

"There’s been a lot of attention on the US this week, with economic data and comments from Fed members being picked apart ahead of the September meeting. The consensus in the markets now appears to be that the Fed will begin the first phase of its QE exit strategy at the September meeting, probably reducing its asset purchases to $60-65 billion a month, which is still a huge figure."

Eurozone Trade Surplus, Inflation data released

Euro exchange rates failed to gain any support from today's data releases.

David Madden at IG Index runs us through today's data events in the Eurozone:

"The eurozone announced a trade surplus of €14.9 billion for June. This compared with a surplus of €13 billion in May, but it was below the €15.3 billion estimate.

"Brussels also announced a rise in inflation of 1.6% in July compared with last year, which was in line with analysts’ expectations. Trading volumes have been thin this morning, and market volatility has been low, but EUR/USD did drift lower on the back of the trade balance figures."