Euro comes under pressure against US Dollar after mixed US PCE data
- EUR/USD edges lower as hotter-than-expected headline PCE inflation offers modest support to the US Dollar.
- Core PCE meets expectations, leaving the outlook for the Fed’s September meeting largely unchanged.
- US GDP holds at 1.5%, while Personal Income beats forecasts and Personal Spending slows.
EUR/USD trades under modest pressure on Wednesday after the US Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) Price Index delivered a mixed inflation picture. Headline inflation came in above expectations, supporting the US Dollar (USD), although an in-line core reading limited the market reaction. At the time of writing, the pair trades around 1.1660, down 0.12% on the day.
The headline PCE Price Index rose 0.2% MoM in July, above the 0.1% forecast and reversing the 0.1% decline recorded in June. On an annual basis, headline inflation held steady at 3.7%, above the 3.6% forecast.
Meanwhile, the core PCE Price Index, the Federal Reserve’s (Fed) preferred measure of underlying inflation, increased 0.2% MoM, matching market expectations but accelerating from June’s 0.1% rise. Annual core inflation held steady at 3.3%, also in line with forecasts.
The report also follows relatively moderate July Consumer Price Index (CPI) and Producer Price Index (PPI) figures. Taken together, the data did little to alter expectations for the Fed’s upcoming meeting, with the CME FedWatch Tool showing a roughly 65% chance that the central bank will leave interest rates unchanged in September.
The US Dollar Index (DXY), which tracks the Greenback's value against a basket of six major currencies, trades around 99.07 at the time of writing. The index gains ground after the release but stays close to its recent lows following last week’s sell-off, triggered by the US Treasury’s surprise announcement that it would increase buybacks of longer-dated government securities. The move revived concerns about rising US debt and currency debasement.
Other US data released at the same time showed that the second estimate of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) confirmed annualised growth of 1.5% in the second quarter, matching both the forecast and the initial estimate. Personal Income rose 0.4% in July, above the 0.3% forecast and up from 0.2% in June, while Personal Spending increased 0.2%, matching expectations but slowing from 0.3%.
US Dollar Price Today
The table below shows the percentage change of US Dollar (USD) against listed major currencies today. US Dollar was the strongest against the New Zealand Dollar.
| USD | EUR | GBP | JPY | CAD | AUD | NZD | CHF | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| USD | 0.14% | 0.29% | 0.00% | 0.20% | -0.20% | 0.48% | 0.39% | |
| EUR | -0.14% | 0.15% | -0.13% | 0.06% | -0.33% | 0.34% | 0.26% | |
| GBP | -0.29% | -0.15% | -0.28% | -0.09% | -0.48% | 0.20% | 0.11% | |
| JPY | 0.00% | 0.13% | 0.28% | 0.19% | -0.21% | 0.48% | 0.38% | |
| CAD | -0.20% | -0.06% | 0.09% | -0.19% | -0.39% | 0.30% | 0.20% | |
| AUD | 0.20% | 0.33% | 0.48% | 0.21% | 0.39% | 0.70% | 0.59% | |
| NZD | -0.48% | -0.34% | -0.20% | -0.48% | -0.30% | -0.70% | -0.10% | |
| CHF | -0.39% | -0.26% | -0.11% | -0.38% | -0.20% | -0.59% | 0.10% |
The heat map shows percentage changes of major currencies against each other. The base currency is picked from the left column, while the quote currency is picked from the top row. For example, if you pick the US Dollar from the left column and move along the horizontal line to the Japanese Yen, the percentage change displayed in the box will represent USD (base)/JPY (quote).
