The European currency continued to decline against the US dollar at the auction on Monday, January 29. One of the reasons for the fall of the euro was the lack of important fundamental statistics on the euro area, which is expected today, as well as the performance of some representatives of the European Central Bank.
For example, the senior economist of the European Central Bank, Peter Praet, stated last night that before reaching the target level of inflation, there still remains some way to go, and the ECB's policy will be adjusted only after inflation has steadily grown.
Similar statements were made last week by the president of the European Central Bank, Mario Draghi, after the bank upheld the current monetary policy. According to the plan, the bank will buy assets of 30 billion euros a month until September inclusive.
Data on the growth of consumer spending in the US in December last year positively affected the US dollar.
According to the report, expenses grew due to increased incomes, and the growth in savings slowed.
So, the savings rate in December 2017 was at the level of 2.4%. According to the US Department of Commerce, household personal expenses in December last year increased by 0.4% compared to the previous month. Personal incomes of Americans also increased by 0.4%. Economists expected that expenditures would grow by 0.5%, and revenues, by 0.3%.
Data on the index of business activity of the Fed-Dallas were ignored by traders. According to the report, the index of business activity in January this year rose to 33.4 points against 29.7 in December. But the production index, on the contrary, declined in January to 16.8 points against 32.8 in December.
As for the technical picture of the EUR/USD pair, so far, the situation is developing on the side of the euro sellers.
A repeat test of 1.2340 will lead to a breakthrough of this level, and the weak preliminary data on the euro area's GDP and consumer prices in Germany may put even more pressure on risky assets, which will lead to a sale to the area of 1.2300 and 1.2250, from which the large players putting on the market will gradually return to the market further growth of the euro.
Quotes of oil declined from their highs after yesterday's statements made by the Iraqi Oil Minister.
Jabbar al-Luaibi said at a meeting in Baghdad that the country plans to increase its oil export capacity by 400,000 barrels a day this year. Back in December 2017, Iraq exported 3.535 million barrels of oil per day from the southern regions. The increase in exports could undermine the OPEC agreement to freeze production and have a negative impact on oil quotes in the medium term.
