Euro stuck below parity

The EUR/USD currency pair has now been stuck in a tight trading range against the US dollar for a 2nd straight day as economic data from both sides of the Atlantic fails to impress market participants.

Yesterday from the US we saw the Initial Jobless Claims figure which hit the market at 214K for the week ended on October 07 versus analysts’ expectations for a figure of 230K and also lower than last month’s figure of 226K prior.

The Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Survey Index dropped to -8.7 in October which was slightly lower than market expectations for a figure of -5 but lower than last month’s reading of -9.9

 The real estate market made somewhat of a comeback with the US Existing Home Sales rose past 4.7M against an expected figure of 4.71M but down from last month’s reading of 4.78M which shows that higher interest rates in the world’s largest economy are still failing to deter investors from home purchases.

Fears of an escalating energy crisis in the Eurozone is also keeping the Euro under pressure with predictions that many people will be unable to pay their bills as the winter season approaches and consumption grows

 Looking further ahead today, there is not much movement expected in the EUR/USD currency pair due to the lack of economic news due for release but the current leadership battle for the next PM in the United Kingdom may have a spillover effect to the Eurozone and hence affect the Euro.

There is also a monetary speech due out from John C. Williams who is the president of Federal Reserve Bank of New York and serves on the Federal Open Market Committee and investors will be looking for clues on the size of the next rate hike from the US Federal Reserve.