EUR / USD struggles to stay above 1.1800 as stock sell-off supports USD

• EUR / USD falls at the end of the US session.
• The US dollar index stabilizes around 93.00 following Powell’s remarks.
• The major Wall Street indices appear to be closing in negative territory.

The pair EUR/USD It rose to a daily high of 1.1823 during the US session on Thursday, but lost its traction in the last hour as a bad mood in the market helped the dollar to gain strength. At time of writing, the EUR / USD pair is trading at 1.1800, up 0.2% on the day.

DXY stabilizes around 93.00 after an initial drop

While speaking at the European Central Bank Forum on Central Banking on Thursday, FOMC Chairman Jerome Powell said the economic recovery has slowed and reiterated that the Fed and Congress will need to do more. Commenting on the latest developments around the COVID-19 vaccine candidates, Powell argued that it was too early to assess the implications for the economy.

After starting the day mixed, the major Wall Street indices began to push lower in the last hour, reflecting a negative shift in market sentiment. At the moment, both the S&P 500 Index and the Dow Jones Industrial Average are losing more than 1% on the day.

Meanwhile, risk aversion flows provided a modest boost to the USD and the US Dollar Index (DXY) was flat on the day just above 93.00.

Earlier in the day, US data showed that the Basic Consumer Price Index (CPI) fell to 1.6% annually in October and Initial Unemployment Claims fell by 48,000 to 709,000 in the week ending on November 7.

On Friday, data on employment change, trade balance and gross domestic product will be included in the European economic agenda. Investors expect the European economy to show a 4.3% annual contraction in the third quarter.