The European common currency traded lower against major opponents after the release of some economic reports during late European deals on Friday. The euro dropped to a 2-week low against the franc and multi-day lows versus the yen and the pound.
Eurozone retail sales fell 0.2% month-on-month in September, Eurostat said today. Economists had forecast a 0.1% increase. It followed a revised 0.2% drop in August.
On an annual basis, retail sales were up 1.1%, slower than August’s revised 1.3% increase. Retail sales were expected to climb 1.4%.
A report by the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology showed today, German factory orders dropped 4% month-on-month in September, compared to a revised 3.5% growth in the previous month.
Economists had expected an increase of 0.4% for September. Factory orders growth in August was revised from 3.4% estimated initially.
On an annual basis, factory orders climbed 14% in September, but slower than a 19% rise expected by economists’.
Extending previous session downtrend, the euro dropped further against the Swiss franc in late European deals today. At present, the euro is trading at a new 2-week low of 1.3492 versus the franc, compared to yesterday’s close of 1.3618.
After a slight gain in early session, the euro edged down against its US counterpart in today’s late European trading. The euro fell to 1.4085 versus the greenback from early high of 1.4231. The euro-dollar pair that closed Thursday’s New York session at 1.4208, is now worth 1.4101.
Against its British counterpart, the euro plunged and currently trading near a new multi-day low of 0.8695 from early European session’s high of 0.8699.
On the economic front, U.K. Output price inflation was 4% in October, up from a downwardly revised 3.8% in September, data released by the Office for National Statistics showed today. Economists had forecast output price inflation to log 4.4%.
On a monthly basis, output prices rose 0.6% in October after stagnating in September. The increase was faster than the expected 0.3% growth.
The European single currency also traded down against the Japanese yen in today’s late European session and tumbled to a fresh multi-day low of 113.92 as of 7:05 am ET. As of now, the euro is trading at 114.18 versus the yen, compared to 114.74 hit late New York Thursday.
Across the Atlantic, the US Labor Department is scheduled to release its closely watched monthly non-farm payroll report at 8:30 AM. Economists estimate that the U.S. economy added 60,000 jobs in October and expect the unemployment rate to come in at 9.6%.
The U.S. pending home sales and consumer credit data-both for September are also on tap in the North American session.
