EUR/USD retreats below 1.2150 after renewing multi-year highs
- EUR/USD is rising for the third straight day on Thursday.
- US Dollar Index extended its slide to mid-90s.
- Mixed macroeconomic data releases from the US failed to help the greenback.
The EUR/USD pair gained nearly 200 pips in the previous two days and preserved its bullish momentum to touch its highest level since April 2018 at 1.2177. Following that impressive rally, the pair seems to have gone into a consolidation phase and was last seen trading at 1.2145, up 0.25% on a daily basis.
USD selloff continues ahead of Friday's NFP data
The USD's market valuation remained the primary driver of EUR/USD's movements on Thursday. The US Dollar Index (DXY), which tracks the greenback's performance against a basket of six major currencies, slumped to its lowest level in more than two years at 90.51 and the US data did little to nothing to limit the losses.
The US Department of Labor's weekly publication showed Initial Jobless Claims declined by 75,000 to 712,000. Additionally, the IHS Markit's Services PMI report revealed that the business activity in the service sector expanded at its most robust pace in more than five years. On a negative note, the ISM Services PMI fell to 55.9 in November to mark its lowest reading since February and fell short of the market expectation of 56.
Earlier in the day, the Eurostat reported that Retail Sales in both the euro area and the US rose by 1.5% in October, compared to analysts' estimate of 0.8%, and allowed the shared currency to outperform the greenback.
There won't be any macroeconomic data releases from the euro area on Friday and investors will be paying close attention to the Nonfarm Payrolls (NFP) report from the US.
Technical levels to watch for