Forexpros – The euro slipped against the dollar on Monday in quiet trading as bargain hunters snapped up dollar positions ahead of Friday’s July jobs report out of the U.S.
The pair rose last week after European Central Bank President Mario Draghi, French President Francois Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel stated they will do what’s necessary to defend the currency.
In Asian trading on Monday, EUR/USD was trading down 0.14% at 1.2304, up from a low of 1.2296 and off from a high of 1.2311.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.2043, Friday’s low, and resistance at 1.2390, Friday’s high.
The U.S gross domestic product grew 1.5% on year during the second quarter, according to advance estimates from the Commerce Department released Friday.
The numbers were largely in line with market expectations, even outpacing some estimates.
Still, the U.S. economy continues to limp along its road to recovery, fueling talk the Federal Reserve will intervene with a round of bond purchases from banks, a monetary policy tool known as quantitative easing that weakens the dollar in exchange for more robust recovery.
Sentiment the ECB may loosen monetary policy guided trading as well, bolstering the greenback slightly on Monday.
The U.S. will release its July nonfarm payrolls number on Friday, and investors stocked up on dollar positions in steady trading early Monday to await more definitive steering currents.
Both the Federal Reserve and the ECB will hold monetary policy meetings this week.
The euro, meanwhile, was up against the pound and down against the yen, with EUR/GBP up 0.02% at 0.7824, and EUR/JPY trading down 0.03% at 96.63.
Later Monday, Spain will release preliminary second-quarter GDP figures.
Italy, meanwhile, will hold an auction of 10-year government bonds, and markets will pay close attention to yields.
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