Euro falls to six-day low as traders return from holiday
Published: April 7, 2015 at 4:34 p.m. ET
Joseph Adinolfi
Kosaku Narioka
SXXP
DXY
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — The euro fell Tuesday to its lowest level in six days, as European traders returned to their desks after a four-day weekend.
The euro EURUSD, -0.13% was at $1.0812, compared with $1.0937 Monday evening.
The single currency briefly trimmed losses after the U.S. Labor Department on Thursday said job openings rose to 5.13 million in February from 4.97 million in January. The dollar was little-changed against its other rivals after the report.
Read: Even at 14-year high, job openings data also contain worrying signs
The euro surged against the dollar Friday after the Labor Department reported the weakest rate of jobs growth in 15 months, and it continued to trade above $1.09 during Monday's session.
But swings in the euro-dollar exchange rate were likely exaggerated over the last two sessions amid thin trading volume, analysts said. That said, thin volumes don't always affect currency price moves, according to RBC Capital Markets.
"We're seeing liquidity return and prices start to normalize," said John Doyle, director of markets at Tempus Inc.
Currency traders appeared to shrug off data showing the eurozone economy grew at its fastest pace in 11 months in March, according to one measure.
"The reaction to the PMI numbers was a little bit odd," said Colin Cieszynski, chief markets strategist at CMC Markets, referring to the euro's reaction to the data. He added that markets were "catching up" from the four day weekend.
Eurozone stocks closed higher Tuesday, with the Stoxx Europe 600 SXXP, -1.14% , a widely watched benchmark, nearing its highest close ever. U.S. stocks were enjoying their own rally until losing steam late in Tuesday trading day.
Earlier in the global day, the Reserve Bank of Australia defied the market's expectations and left its cash target rate, its benchmark interest rate, unchanged, sending the Australian dollar to its highest level against the buck in eight days.
The aussie AUDUSD, -0.33% hit a session-high of 77.13 cents, before falling to 76.55 cents in recent trade. It traded at 75.99 cents Monday evening.
Financial markets had been pricing in a 75% chance the benchmark interest rate would be trimmed by 0.25 percentage point to a record-low 2%.
Read: Australia keeps interest rates steady at 2.25%
In other Asia trade, the yen USDJPY, +0.09% rose to ¥120.37, compared with ¥119.48 late Monday in North America.
Boris Schlossberg, managing director of FX strategy at BK Asset Management, said that rising Treasury yields are attracting foreign flows to the U.S. dollar.
"In North America today the calendar is nearly barren so price action will likely be driven by equity and fixed income markets," Schlossberg said in a note to clients.
The ICE U.S. Dollar Index DXY, +0.08%, a measure of the dollar's strength against a basket of six rivals, was up 1.2% to 97.9400.
Treasury yields finished flat on Tuesday after rising earlier in the session.
Barron's: Cathie Wood Is Expecting a 'Bloodbath' in This Segment of the Market
Here's what the chief executive of ARK Invest had to say.
Barron's: 'I Promised Myself I'd Never Be That Broke Again.' This Financial Advisor's Family Inherited $1.4 Million —and Quickly Lost It All.
Joseph Adinolfi is a markets reporter and copy editor at MarketWatch. His work has also appeared in The Wall Street Journal, The Hartford Courant, Connecticut News Junkie and other publications. He graduated from the University of Connecticut Honors Program in 2012 with a B.A. in journalism.