The Euro ended its recent rally with a decline against the US Dollar after investor profit-taking. Overall, however, market players appear to be optimistic about the Euro’s outlook. Many FX players saw today’s decline as a good opportunity for Euro buying. One currency strategist in London concurs, saying that there is a significant amount of cash as a result of China and Europe’s economic recovery, thus European assets are being prized by FX traders.

As reported at 10:42 am (GMT) in London, the EUR/USD was trading at $1.20, down 0.24%; the pair is off the earlier peak of $1.20523 while the session low is currently recorded at $1.19820. The EUR/GBP was down 0.04% and trading at 0.8862 Pence; the pair is near midway between the session lows and highs which were recorded at 0.88490 Pence and 0.88870 Pence.

Fed Still on Track for Rate Hikes

The disappointing news from the US, especially last Friday’s NFP report which underwhelmed, has kept the greenback under some pressure. New private sector jobs increased by only 148,000 in December, against forecasts of 190,000. Despite the figures, analysts are still betting that the Federal Reserve will move to raise interest rates, perhaps as soon as March. Some Fed officials recently commented that the Fed is still on track for the proposed 2018 rate hikes.