Euro Lower As German Business Confidence Drops, Fed Tightening Concerns Weigh

The euro was lower against its major counterparts in the European session on Friday, as German business confidence dropped in March and investors weighed economic threats from the Federal Reserve's plans to tighten monetary policy aggressively.

Chicago Fed President Charles Evans said that he supported a a quarter-point rate hike at the remaining meetings through next March, but is "open-minded" about a possible 50-basis-point move.

Oil prices fell after European Union leaders refrained from imposing measures to cut Russian crude imports to Europe.

The U.S. and the European Union reached a deal to boost supplies of liquified natural gas to Europe by the end of the year.

Under the deal, the US will provide 15 billion additional cubic metres of LNG to the bloc in order to reduce reliance on Russian gas.

Survey results from the ifo Institute showed that Germany's business sentiment declined sharply in March as expectations logged a record collapse amid the war in Ukraine.

The business climate index dropped to 90.8 in March from a five-month high of 98.5 in February. This was the lowest since July 2020, when the score was 89.7. The score was forecast to fall moderately to 90.8.

The euro retreated to 1.1001 against the greenback, after rising to a 2-day high of 1.1038 at 12:15 am ET. The euro may challenge support around the 1.08 mark.

The euro touched 1.0194 against the franc, its lowest level since March 14. The euro is seen finding support around the 1.00 region.

The euro eased off against the yen and was trading at 134.05. This followed more than a 4-year high of 134.74 hit in the previous session. If the euro weakens further, 131.5 is possibly seen as its next support level.

The euro pulled back to 0.8346 against the pound, from a 3-day high of 0.8370 seen at 4:45 am ET. Next key support for the currency is seen around the 0.82 region.

The euro was trading at 1.4660 against the aussie and 1.3802 against the loonie, slightly down from its prior highs of 1.4701 and 1.3834, respectively. The next possible support for the currency is seen around 1.44 against the aussie and 1.36 against the loonie.

In contrast, the euro rose back to 1.5835 against the kiwi, on track to pierce a 2-day high of 1.5846 seen earlier in the session. On the upside, 1.62 is possibly seen as its next resistance level.

Looking ahead, University of Michigan's final consumer sentiment index for March, U.S. pending home sales and Canada manufacturing sales for February will be released in the New York session.