Euro Falls On ECB Rate Cut Bets

The euro was lower against its most major counterparts in the New York session on Friday, as the likelihood of a reduction in key interest rates in June increased after monetary policy announcement from the European Central Bank on Thursday.

The ECB signalled a possible rate cut in June if its next set of projections increased the confidence that inflation is moving towards the target.

At her press conference, ECB President Lagarde said that some members supported a rate cut in April.

An ECB poll of professional forecasters showed that inflation in the euro zone will fall to 2 percent in 2025 and stay there in the longer term, giving the clearest indication that the central bank could cut interest rates in June.

ECB Governing Council member Yannis Stournaras said that the central bank must start cutting rates soon and advocated up to four moves by the end of the year.

German consumer price inflation slowed to 2.2 percent in March from 2.5 percent in February, final data from Destatis revealed. That was in line with the flash data published earlier.

The latest inflation was the weakest since May 2021, when prices had risen the same 2.2 percent.

The euro declined to more than a 5-month low of 1.0622 against the greenback and a fresh 3-week low of 0.9677 against the franc, off its early highs of 1.0729 and 0.9763, respectively. The euro is seen finding support around 1.05 against the greenback and 0.95 against the franc.

The euro dropped to more than a 3-week low of 162.27 against the yen and a 9-day low of 1.4617 against the loonie, from its early highs of 164.41 and 1.4685, respectively. The euro may face support around 161.00 against the yen and 1.44 against the loonie.

In contrast, the euro rose to 1.6448 against the aussie and 1.7910 against the kiwi, from an early 2-day low of 1.6376 and a multi-week low of 1.7843, respectively. The euro is poised to challenge resistance around 1.67 against the aussie and 1.82 against the kiwi.

The euro edged up to 0.8551 against the pound, from an early multi-week low of 0.8528. If the currency rises further, it may find resistance around the 0.88 level.