Forex Market: EUR/USD hits session highs, following EZ, US reports

The euro reached daily highs against the US dollar, as investors mulled economic data that came out of the Euro zone and the United States, while US President Barack Obama imposed sanctions on 7 top Russian government officials after the vote in the Crimean peninsula.

EUR/USD climbed to a session high at 1.3948 at 14:10 GMT, after which consolidation followed at 1.3939, up 0.18% for the day. Support was likely to be found at March 14th low, 1.3847, while resistance was to be met at March 13th high and also the pairs highest point since October 26th 2011, 1.3966.

Earlier on Monday the annualized rate of consumer inflation in the single currency zone was reported to have weakened in February, which may put pressure on the European Central Bank to introduce new measures in order to spur economic growth. The annualized harmonized index of consumer prices (HICP) came in at 0.7% last month, a level last seen during October 2013, which was still far below central bank’s inflation objective of 2%, that provides price stability. Experts had anticipated that the annual inflation rate will remain steady at 0.8% in February.

Meanwhile, industrial output in the United States rose 0.6% in February, which marked the fastest monthly pace since August 2013. The result exceeded preliminary estimates, pointing to a 0.2% gain. In January the performance of the index of industrial production has been revised up to a 0.2% drop from a 0.3% drop previously.

In addition, according to data by the Federal Reserve for New York, manufacturing activity in the region increased at a moderate pace this month. The New York Empire Manufacturing Index advanced to a reading of 5.61 in March from 4.48 during the prior month. Experts had expected a larger increase in the current month, to 6.25. Values above zero are indicative of expansion in manufacturing.

The sub-index of new orders entered positive territory, while the gauge of deliveries demonstrated a slight improvement in March. The sub-index of employment slowed down, but remained above zero.

Also today, US President Barack Obama imposed sanctions on seven top government officials from the Russian Federation and added four others from Ukraine, including the former president, Bloomberg imparted. The seven Russian officials are Vladislav Surkov, Sergey Glazyev, Leonid Slutsky, Andrei Klishas, Valentina Matviyenko, Dmitry Rogozin, and Yelena Mizulina.

“Today’s actions send a strong message to the Russian government that there are consequences for their actions that violate the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, including their actions supporting the illegal referendum for Crimean separation”, according to a statement released from the White House.