Euro Retreats Amid Risk Aversion

The euro retreated from early highs against other currencies in the European session on Monday, as European markets fell on concerns over the fallout from the Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) collapse.

The German DAX and France's CAC 40 index both tumbled around 2.1 percent, while the U.K.'s FTSE 100 was down 1.9 percent.

Over the weekend, the U.S. Treasury, Federal Reserve, and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation said they would "fully protect" depositors, including those with assets above the federally guaranteed $250,000 limit. Markets continue to worry about contagion effects despite U.S. regulators rushing to contain the fallout.

Investors are waiting to see whether the SVB collapse was a systematic event, or a one-off.

Concerns surrounding the U.S. banking sector also raised expectations for a potential pause in further interest-rate hikes by the Federal Reserve.

In the Asian session today, the euro showed mixed trading against its major counterparts. While the euro rebounded against the U.S. dollar, it held steady against the pound, the Swiss franc and the yen.

In the European session, the euro dropped to nearly a 4-month low of 0.9739 against the Swiss franc and nearly a 1-month low of 142.07 against the yen, from early highs of 0.9834 and 144.38, respectively. If the euro extends its down, it is likely to find support around 0.95 against the franc and 140.00 against the yen.

Against the NZ dollar, the euro fell to 4-day low of 1.7253 from an early near 5-month high of 1.7415. The euro is likely to find its support around the 1.70 area.

The euro edged down to 0.8830 against the pound, from an early high of 0.8863. The euro may find its support level around the 0.87 area. Against the U.S. dollar, the euro slipped to 1.0663 from an early near 1-month high of 1.0737. The next support level for the EUR/USD pair is seen at 1.04 level.

Against the Australian and the Canadian dollars, the euro dropped to 1.6058 and 1.4674 from an early more than a 1-year high of 1.6205 and more than a 1-year high of 1.6205, respectively. The euro is likely to find support around 1.66 against the aussie and 1.44 against the loonie.

Looking ahead, U.S. consumer inflation expectations data for February is due to be released at 10:00 am ET.