EUR/USD Trims Fed-inspired Gains After ECB Decision

 | Feb 02, 2023 04:44PM ET

The EUR/USD pair erased a significant part of Wednesday’s Fed-induced rally as European Central Bank’s (ECB) President Christine Lagarde delivered a cautious press conference, which weighed on the euro.

At the time of writing, the EUR/USD trades at the 1.0915 area, posting a 0.65% daily loss, after printing its highest level in nine months at 1.1085. At the same time, the U.S. dollar managed to stage a noticeable rebound as its DXY index gained 0.5%, around 101.70.

The ECB decided to raise its main interest rates by 50 bps, being the highest level since November 2008 for the deposit facility rate, which now stands at 2.5%. The monetary policy statement confirmed another 50 bp hike in March, but during the press conference, Lagarde only committed to a “strong intent” and limited the hawkish tone. A dovish tilt was also perceived as the inflation risk was described as more balanced, with consumer inflation coming down from cycle highs while economic activity is doing better than expected.

On the other hand, the dollar recovered across the board on Thursday, trimming post-Fed losses. At the same time, markets continued to cheer Jerome Powell’s confirmation that the disinflationary process has begun as U.S. bond yields continued to fall. However, they ended the day away from lows, while the Wall Street indexes extended gains except for the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which closed nearly flat.

On Friday, the nonfarm payrolls report will be release, with expectations pointing to a 185,000 job increase in January.