- EUR/USD held steady and had a rather muted reaction to the US macro data.
- The US retail sales came in to show modest growth of 0.2% vs. 0.5% expected.
- An upward revision of October’s figures helped offset November’s softer readings.
The EUR/USD pair had a rather muted reaction to the US retail sales figures and remained confined in a narrow trading band below the 1.1200 handle, or four-month tops set earlier.
Data released this Friday showed that the US monthly retail sales recorded a modest growth of 0.2% in November. The reading was well short of consensus estimates pointing to a 0.5% rise but was largely offset by an upward previous of the previous month’s reading.
Adding to the disappointing headline figures, sales excluding automobiles (core retail sales) also missed market expectations and came in to show a 0.1% increase as compared to 0.4% expected and October’s upwardly revised reading of 0.3% (0.2% reported previously).
Meanwhile, the growth for the closely watched Retail Sales Control Group decelerated to 0.1% during the reported month, down from 0.3% in October, albeit did little to influence the US dollar price action or assist the pair to break through the tight intraday trading range.
With the key macro data out of the way, it will now be interesting to see if the pair is able to gain the required momentum or continues with its subdued trading action on the last day of the week. Nevertheless, the pair remains on track to post strong weekly gains and could even possibly record its highest weekly close since early August.
Technical levels to watch
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