© Reuters. The euro exceeds 1.1050 dollars, the highest since March of last year
Frankfurt (Germany), April 13 (.).- The euro rose today and exceeded 1.1050 dollars, its highest since March of last year, after the publication of figures showing a drop in wholesale prices in the United States. . in March.
The euro was trading around 3:00 p.m. GMT at $1.1049, compared to $1.0995 in the last hours of European currency market trading the previous day.
The European Central Bank (ECB) set the reference exchange rate for the euro at $1.1015.
Producer prices in the US fell 0.5% in March from the previous month, the biggest drop since April 2020, and rose 2.7% year-on-year (4.9% year-on-year in February), figures that show that inflation is moderating.
In addition, weekly US jobless claims rose 11,000 last week to 239,000 claims, indicating a small increase in unemployment in a very strong labor market.
On Wednesday, the drop in consumer prices in the US and the minutes of the last meeting of the Federal Reserve (Fed) led the markets to anticipate that the entity will raise its interest rates just one more time, by 25 points basic in May, until placing the federal funds in the range between 5 and 5.25%.
Minutes from the last meeting showed that all members supported a quarter-point hike in March, that some members considered pausing rate hikes due to financial instability, and that the Fed expects a recession by the end of the year. due to the turmoil in the banking sector.
“It now seems likely that the Fed will carry out one last rate hike at its next meeting to dispel any doubts about inflation, and that, from then on, it will remain on the lookout for a recession,” Monex analysts consider. Europe.
The rise in industrial production of 1.5% in the euro area in February compared to January and information that the Governing Council of the ECB is in favor of raising interest rates in May also boosted the value of the euro.
ECB interest rates are now at 3.5% and the deposit facility at 3%.
Bank of France Governor Francois Villeroy de Galhau said the ECB has already undertaken most of the rate hikes but has not completed them, although he considered it too early to decide what they will do in May, according to Bloomberg.
The governor of the Austrian National Bank, Robert Holzmann, was in favor of a half percentage point increase in May due to high inflation.
“Markets are convinced that the ECB has more leeway than the Fed to tighten further,” comment analysts at UniCredit (BIT:).
The single currency was exchanged in a fluctuation band between 1.0979 and 1.1066 dollars.
