Euro attempts to regain the 1.1200 level following mixed Services activity data

• EUR/USD bulls push against 1.1200 after bouncing from 17-month lows at the 1.1160 area.
• Eurozone Services PMIs have been mixed, and investor confidence deteriorated in October.
• The safe-haven USD keeps drawing support from the risk-off mood amid the global bonds' selloff.

The Euro (EUR) maintains its bearish tone against the US Dollar (USD) on Monday, following a string of mixed Services Activity figures and weak Investor Confidence data, with concerns about France's fiscal health weighing heavily. The EUR/USD pair is trying to come back above 1.1200 at the time of writing after bouncing from fresh 17-month lows near 1.1160 earlier on the day, and following a 3% decline in the previous four weeks.

Final HCOB Services Purchasing Managers Index data from the Eurozone confirmed that the sector’s activity grew at a 53 pace in September, from 51.7 in August. Likewise, the German PMI has been confirmed at 52.9, from the previous month's  49.7. Italian and French PMIs slowed down beyond expectations, while Spain’s services activity beat forecasts.

Beyond that, the Eurozone's Sentix Investors' Confidence, however, has deteriorated to 2.7 in October, from 5.1 in the previous month, while on the positive side, Italy's public debt-to-GDP ratio contracted to 2% in the second quarter from 4.8% in the first one.

Concerns about France’s fiscal health are hammering the Euro

The Euro, however, has come under additional pressure on Monday as France’s borrowing costs soar amid rising social unrest, and with the gridlock in the government practically discarding any credible savings plan. The yield of the French 10-year government bond hit 4.99% on Friday, surpassing the peak of 2008, which has reactivated concerns of a credit crisis that might extend to other Eurozone members.

Risk aversion keeps fuelling the US Dollar against its main peers on Monday, offsetting the negative impact of the soft labour report seen on Friday and the dwindling hopes that the US Federal Reserve (Fed) will hike interest rates in October.

The benchmark US 10-year yield remains above the key 5%, which, so far, is acting as a tailwind for the USD. Analysts at DBS Group Research, however, warn that “higher yields driven by Fed tightening can support the USD,” but that “higher term premia driven by concerns over debt supply, fiscal sustainability, and Treasury-market credibility need not,” suggesting that yield gains rooted in market anxiety rather than monetary policy may offer far less durable support for the Dollar.