EUR/USD Takes a Breather After U.S. CPI Data, ECB Eyed

 | Mar 14, 2023 05:43PM ET

The U.S. dollar took a breather on Tuesday following the previous day’s sell-off as markets’ jitters surrounding the Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) collapse quieted, while U.S. consumer inflation data showed a slight deceleration in February.

At the time of writing, the EUR/USD pair is trading at the 1.0730 zone, virtually unchanged on the day, with the upside still capped by the 1.0750 zone. Meanwhile, the DXY index trimmed daily gains and stabilized around 103.60 after hitting a daily high of 104.05.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the Consumer Price Index came in line with expectations in February, with annualized inflation hitting 6%, down from its previous reading of 6.4%. On the other hand, the core CPI inflation rate was reported at 5.5% YoY, in line with analysts’ consensus.

Following the data, U.S. bond yields recovered across the curve, helping the dollar. The 10-year bond yield is trading at 3.69%, while the 2-year rate recovered nearly 7% and stands at 4.25%. Amid the banking crisis triggered by the SVB collapse on Friday, investors seem to have taken out of the table a 50 bps rate hike by the Federal Reserve at the March 21, 22 meeting. The bets on a 25 bps increased to 73%, while on Monday, the case of a no-change decision was stronger.

Wall Street indexes welcomed CPI data and the improvement in sentiment. The S&P 500 gained 1.65%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 1.06%, and the Nasdaq Composite posted a 2.14% daily advance.

On Thursday, the European Central Bank (ECB) will decide on monetary policy, with analysts expecting a 50 basis point rate hike despite the recent developments.