Euro Firm, Unable to Beat Yen & Franc

The euro was firm today, rising against most of its major peers, but failed to gain on safe currencies, such as the Japanese yen and the Swiss franc. The euro’s strength was surprising as the market sentiment has been worsening, and the shared 19-nation currency is not known for being a safe option for investors.
As for Tuesday’s macroeconomic data in the eurozone, it was mixed. Destatis reported that the German trade balance remained about unchanged at â‚¬16.1 billion in December, adjusted for calendar and seasonal variations. Economists were expecting a decrease to â‚¬14.2 billion.
Meanwhile, data from Istat revealed that seasonally adjusted Italian industrial production shrank by 0.2% in December from the previous month after dropping by 1.4% in November. While a noticeable improvement compared with the previous month, the reading was disappointing to economists who were expecting an increase of 2.1%.
Riskier currencies were rising at the start of Tuesday’s trading session but have reversed movement later as safer options became more attractive to investors. Interestingly, the US dollar and the euro defied the trend as the safer greenback remained soft, while the common currency of the eurozone remained firm.
While the week is light on macroeconomic releases, two more reports will come out in the eurozone tomorrow. Market participants will likely pay more attention to German inflation data but French industrial production may also have a limited impact on the euro.
EUR/USD gained from 1.2049 to 1.2096 as of 14:44 GMT today. EUR/CAD surged from 1.5341 to about 1.5430. At the same time, EUR/CHF dropped from 1.0828 to 1.0809.
If you have any questions, comments, or opinions regarding the Euro, feel free to post them using the commentary form below.

Original from: www.earnforex.com