Euro falls to a one-week low after weak manufacturing surveys

LONDON -18 April 2019: The euro fell to a one-week low on Thursday after weak manufacturing surveys in Europe raised concerns about an economy struggling to gain traction before the long Easter weekend.

Activity in Germany’s manufacturing sector shrank for a fourth straight month in April, while a similar survey from France also painted a bleak picture.

“Investors are worried about the health of the global economy and the eurozone and the fortunes of the euro are closely tied with that,” said Ricardo Evangelista, a senior analyst at ActivTrades in London.

The single currency was up as much as 0.1 percent before the data but fell 0.4 percent to its lowest level since April 10 to $1.1244 after the data releases.

A week ago, European Central Bank President Mario Draghi raised the prospect of more support for the struggling euro zone economy if its slowdown persist.

But the prospects of more stimulus has failed to lift the general gloom over the euro’s outlook.

The euro was still more than 2 percent below a 2019 high of $1.157. Investors have cut their holdings of the currency, with net short bets at their highest in more than two years, according to latest positioning data.

The euro’s decline comes amid a general drop in currency market volatility. A JP Morgan volatility index was near 2008 lows.

The dollar index against a basket of six major currencies was nearly flat at 97.051, after dipping 0.05 percent the previous day.

Commodity-linked currencies sagged after a surge in crude oil prices ran out of steam.

The Australian dollar was flat at $0.7179 after briefly popping above $0.72 on strong jobs data for March.