EUR / USD stabilizes around 1.1930 as investors ignore increased ECB asset purchases

• EUR / USD is still on track to close the first day of the week lower.
• The ECB increased weekly asset purchases to 19,303 million euros.
• The US Dollar Index continues to fluctuate in a daily range below 92.00.

The pair EUR/USD started the new week quietly, but declined in the second half of the week. With market action turning moderate during US trading hours, the pair began to move sideways around 1.1930, where it was down 0.2% on the day.

The ECB boosts weekly asset purchases

In its weekly publication, the European Central Bank (ECB) announced that it bought net assets worth € 19,303 million in the week ending March 12 as part of its quantitative easing program, compared to € 17,068 million. from the previous week. This development did not allow the shared currency to rebound against the dollar.

However, Isabel Schnabel, a member of the Executive Committee of the ECB, said that extrapolation of the purchase data from the weekly Pandemic Emergency Purchasing Program (PEPP) to the overall monthly data could lead to “misleading conclusions”.

On the other hand, the US Dollar Index (DXY) posted modest daily gains at 91.80. However, the lack of fundamental drivers behind the strength of the USD suggests that Monday’s DXY move is likely a continuation of last Friday’s bounce.

The only US data on Monday revealed that New York’s Empire State Manufacturing Index in March improved to 17.4 from 12.1 in February, but failed to trigger a significant market reaction.

On Tuesday, the ZEW economic sentiment index for Germany and the eurozone will be considered for a new boost. Later in the day, the US Census Bureau will release retail sales figures for February.

Technical levels