Valeria Bednarik, chief analyst at FXStreet explained that the dollar was broadly firmer against its major rivals this Thursday, but the rally faded in the American afternoon, on tepid US data and as investors secure gains ahead of the long weekend.
Key Quotes:
"This Friday, most major markets will remain closed amid the Easter Holiday, although the US will release its final revision of the Q4 2015 GDP. Given that is the last revision, the report tends to have a limited impact, which will be even lower it the reading match previous and expectations, which in this particular case converge at 1.0%.
As for US data released this Thursday, weekly unemployment claims fell to 265K, beating expectations, while the Markit Services PMI returned above the 50.0 threshold in March, up to 51.0, but below expectations of 51.3. Durable Goods Orders fell in February, reflecting a broad-based slowdown in US capital investment. Official data showed a 2.8% decline against a 4.2% gain in the previous month, whilst bookings for non-military capital goods excluding aircraft dropped 1.8%, well below market's expectations.
The EUR/USD pair trimmed its daily loses before the closing bell, but extended its weekly decline to 1.1143, and held below the 1.1200 level, overall retaining the bearish tone. With limited liquidity expected for this Friday, the pair can see some choppy action."
