- Housing starts in the U.S. declined by 0.3% in March.
- US Dollar Index preserves Thursday's gains.
- Eurozone consumer sentiment data next week will be the next catalyst.
The EUR/USD pair paid no mind to the housing market data from the United States at the start of the NA session. With the trading volume staying thin amid the Easter holiday, the pair continues to move sideways near mid-1.12s and looks to close the day with small gains. On a weekly basis, the pair is losing around 50 pips, reflecting the negative impact of the disappointing Manufacturing PMI data from Germany and the eurozone on the shared currency.
Commenting on the eurozone April PMI reports, "The persistence of the business survey weakness raises questions over the economy’s ability to grow by more than 1% in 2019,” Chris Williamson, Chief Business Economist at the IHS Markit, said.
Today's only data from the U.S. revealed that housing starts and building permits in March declined by 0.3% and 1.7%, respectively, and both readings came in worse than analysts' estimates. Nevertheless, the US Dollar Index, which gained traction in the second half of the week with the risk-off atmosphere ramping up the demand for the greenback, continues to float above the 97.30 mark, not allowing the pair to stage a recovery.
On Monday, the FX market activity is expected to stay subdued with the majority of Europe observing Easter Monday. The next catalyst for the shared currency could be the eurozone Consumer Confidence report published by the European Commission on Tuesday.
Technical levels to consider
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