The euro slipped against most of its major counterparts in European session on Monday.
Most of the European stocks fell slightly today. At 7:41 am ET, U.K’s benchmark FTSE 100 index was down by 1.6 points or 0.03%, France’s CAC 40 fell 2.5 points or 0.08%. While, Germany’s DAX gained 1.2 points or 0.02 %.
Eurozone retail sales rose in May after falling in April, figures released by European Union statistical agency Eurostat showed today. The increase was led by a pick-up in sales of food, drinks and tobacco and non-food sales.
Retail sales rose 0.2% month-on-month in May, slightly slower than the 0.3% increase economists had expected. Meanwhile, the statistical agency revised April’s decline to 0.9% from 1.2% initially reported. Retail sales of food, drinks and tobacco rose 0.2% in May following a decline of 0.6% in April. Sales of non-food products increased 0.4% after a 0.8% fall.
Beside the retail sales report, few other reports, which include the Euro-zone retail sales for May, sentix investor confidence for July and the services PMI reports from the major European economies for June likely influenced the euro.
The euro fell against the Swiss franc in European session on Monday. Currently, the euro is trading at 1.3321 against the franc, down 0.25%, from Friday’s close of 1.3355.
A report from Switzerland showed that the retail sales grew 1.3% month-on-month in May, following a 1.5% rise in April. Excluding fuel, the retail sector showed a seasonally adjusted increase in real turnover of 1.1%, faster than the 0.9% growth seen in April.
On a year-on-year basis, the retail sector real turnover climbed 3.8% compared with May 2009, bigger than April’s 1.3% growth.
The euro-pound pair continues to exhibit choppy trading during European session on Monday. The pair, which closed last week’s trading at 0.8263, is now worth 0.8282.
Moving away from Asian session’s choppy trading, the euro fell against the yen in European session on Monday. As of now, the euro-yen pair is worth 109.85, down from last week’s close of 110.21.
The euro-dollar pair is trading now at a low of 1.2527, down from 1.2552 hit at last week’s close.
The U.S. financial markets are closed today for Independence Day holiday.