European session: the euro recovers

Data
01:30 Australia Gross Domestic Product (QoQ) Quarter II +1.3% +0.9% +0.6%
01:30 Australia Gross Domestic Product (YoY) Quarter II +4.3% +3.7% +3.7%
07:15 Switzerland Consumer Price Index (MoM) August -0.5% +0.1% 0.0%
07:15 Switzerland Consumer Price Index (YoY) August -0.7% -0.4% -0.5%
07:50 France Services PMI (finally) August 50.2 50.2 49.2
07:55 Germany Services PMI (finally) August 48.3 48.3 48.3
08:00 Eurozone Services PMI (finally) August 47.5 47.5 47.2
09:00 Eurozone Retail Sales (MoM) July +0.1% -0.2% -0.2%
09:00 Eurozone Retail Sales (YoY) July -1.2% -1.7% -1.7%

The euro fell against the dollar on speculation that the measures to be announced by the European Central Bank tomorrow will not be able to restore confidence in the region.

At the beginning of the session the Euro was down against the dollar on speculation that the measures to be announced by the European Central Bank tomorrow will not be able to restore confidence in the region. The single currency also fell against the yen after a report on the euro area showed that retail sales fell in July, led by Germany. According to EU statistics, the volume of retail sales decreased by 0.2% in July, a separate report showed that the index of purchasing managers in the services sector fell to 47.2 in August from 47.9 in July, indicating a contraction. The dollar strengthened as investors sought safer assets.

But despite the decline, the euro managed to recover and showed a sharp rise amid comments by ECB President Draghi, who said that the ECB will refrain from setting a fixed yield.

The pound strengthened against the dollar since the published data showed that the index of business activity in the UK services sector rose to 53.7 in August, compared with expectations at 51.2 and the level of 51.0 in July.

The Australian dollar fell to a seven-week low after it became known that the GDP rose less than expected by analysts.

Gross domestic product expanded by 0.6% in the three months to June, compared with the previous quarter, when it rose a revised 1.4%. Economists average stood at 0.7%.

The dollar index (DXY), which is used to track the value of the dollar against six major currencies, added 0.2% to 81.472.