Euro Falls Sharply After German Court Rules Against ECB's QE Program

The euro fell against its major counterparts in the European session on Tuesday, as Germany's top court ruled that the European Central Bank's mass bond-buying to support the euro area partly violates the German constitution.

The court said that the Bundesbank must stop buying government bonds within three months unless the ECB proves that those purchases are needed.

The court observed that the decision exceeded "the monetary policy mandate of the ECB" and gave the central bank three months to take steps to amend the scheme.

"The Bundesbank may thus no longer participate in the implementation and execution of the ECB decisions at issue, unless the ECB Governing Council adopts a new decision that demonstrates...the PSPP are not disproportionate to the economic and fiscal policy effects," the court said.

Data from Eurostat showed that Eurozone producer prices declined at a faster pace in March due to a sharp fall in energy prices.

Producer prices decreased 2.8 percent year-on-year in March, faster than the 1.4 percent decrease in February.

The euro depreciated to a 6-day low of 1.0826 against the greenback, 5-day low of 115.61 against the yen and a 4-day low of 0.8701 against the pound, from its early highs of 1.0926, 116.57 and 0.8764, respectively. The next possible support for the euro is seen around 1.06 against the greenback, 112.00 against the yen and 0.84 against the pound.

The single currency hit 1.0518 against the franc, its lowest level since April 24. On the downside, 1.02 is possibly seen as the next support level for the euro.

Reversing from its early highs of 1.5366 against the loonie, 1.8038 against the kiwi and 1.6985 against the aussie , the euro dropped to a 5-day low of 1.5231, 4-day lows of 1.7907 and 1.6815, respectively. The euro is seen finding support around 1.51 against the loonie, 1.67 against the kiwi and 1.61 against the aussie. Looking ahead, U.S and Canadian trade data for March and U.S. ISM non-manufacturing composite index for April will be out in the New York session.