- EUR/USD trades firmly near 1.1570 as the US Dollar faces pressure after the release of the US NFP data for July.
- Soft employment data and questions over US data creditability have weighed on the US Dollar.
- The Eurozone inflation grew at a steady pace in July.
The EUR/USD pair clings to Friday’s gains near 1.1570 during the late Asian session on Monday. The major currency pair trades firmly as the US Dollar (USD) has been pushed to the backfoot, following questions over the credibility of the United States (US) data agencies.
The US Dollar Index (DXY), which tracks the Greenback’s value against six major currencies, trades with caution near 98.70.
On Friday, US President Donald Trump fired Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Commissioner Erike McEntarfer, who was accused for faking job numbers, without providing evidence of tampering data. This came after the agency reported the Nonfarm Payrolls (NFP) report for July, which showed a slowdown in the hiring trend.
The US NFP report showed that employers added 73K fresh workers in July, lower than expectations of 110K. Additionally, employment figures for June revised significantly lower to 14K from 147K. The Unemployment Rate accelerated to 4.2%, as expected, from the prior reading of 4.1%.
Cooling labor market conditions and suspects over US data credibility have diminished the appeal of the US Dollar.
Going forward, investors will focus on the US ISM Services PMI data for July, which will be published on Tuesday.
In the Eurozone, a steady growth in the preliminary Harmonized Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) data for July has diminished hopes of more interest rate cuts by the European Central Bank (ECB) in the near term. The data showed on Friday that both headline and core HICP rose steadily by 2.0% and 2.2% on year, respectively, slightly faster than their estimates.
