With the markets still enjoying a nice risk rally, the euro was able to keep its head above water and hold onto its gains from Thursday. EUR/USD made its way up another 11 pips to end the week at 1.3030, while EUR/JPY marched up 37 pips to 102.50.
No one really seemed to mind too much that the German factory orders report printed ugly results. It showed a 1.3% decline in August, far below the median forecast of a 0.5% decrease.
Instead, what the markets focused their attention on was the U.S. NFP report, which came in better than expected. The report helped lift risk appetite across the boards and provide support for the euro.
If you’re looking for red flags to trade this week, you can start with the euro group meetings today, where the ESM will finally be launched. We also have the Sentix investor confidence report due at 8:30 am GMT and the German industrial production report due at 10:00 am GMT.
Tomorrow, we’ll catch up with ECB President Mario Draghi, as he testifies before the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs of the European Parliament. As usual, it’s best to listen in on what he has to say because you never know if he’ll drop hints on what the central bank plans to do next!