Euro Falls In Cautious Trade

The euro was lower against its major counterparts in the European session on Thursday, amid an energy crisis in the euro area and investors awaited U.S. Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell's speech at the Jackson Hole economic symposium on Friday.

The Jackson Hole Symposium began in Wyoming, with investors focused on clues about the Fed's monetary policy tightening path for the rest of this year.

The minutes from the European Central Bank's July meeting showed that a very large number of members agreed that it was appropriate to raise the key interest rates by 50 basis points.

Policymakers judged that the monetary policy stance remained accommodative even after a 50 basis point rise.

"In the current circumstances with exceptionally high uncertainty, specific forward guidance on the future interest rate path was seen as excessively constraining the Governing Council's optionality, flexibility and data-dependence, with the risk that the Governing Council would tie itself to decisions that it needed to reverse later when circumstances changed," the minutes added.

Survey results from the ifo Institute showed that German business confidence weakened for the third straight month in August to the lowest since mid-2020, signaling that the economy is sliding into a recession.

The business climate index fell to 88.5 points in August from 88.7 points in July. This was the lowest score since June 2020 but well above economists' forecast of 86.8.

The euro declined to 0.8427 against the pound and 136.01 against the yen, off an early 3-day high of 0.8461 and a 2-day high of 136.98, respectively. The euro is seen finding support around 0.82 against the pound and 135.00 against the yen.

The euro was trading at 0.9614 against the franc, down from a 6-day high of 0.9656 seen at 2:15 am ET. The next possible downside target for the currency is seen around the 0.955 level.

The euro retreated to 0.9963 against the greenback, following a 3-day high of 1.0033 hit at 2:35 am ET. Next key support for the euro is seen around the 0.97 level.

The euro fell to 1.4299 against the aussie, its lowest level since April 2017. Against the loonie, it was down at a 9-1/2-year low of 1.2876. The euro may challenge support around 1.40 against the aussie and 1.25 against the loonie.

The euro touched an 8-day low of 1.5992 against the kiwi, after climbing to a 3-day high of 1.6135 in the previous session. The currency is likely to face support around the 1.54 region, if it falls again.