EUR/USD tumbles to lows in sub-1.0800 levels

• EUR/USD loses the grip further and breaches 1.0800.
• EMU’s Retail Sales expanded more than expected in February.
• US Non-farm Payrolls, ISM Non-Manufacturing next on tap.

The bearish note around the European currency stays well and sound for yet another session on Friday and is now dragging EUR/USD to weekly lows in the 1.0790/85 band.

EUR/USD weaker on USD-buying

EUR/USD is prolonging the weekly leg lower and continues to retrace last week’s move up, always amidst the persistent and renewed buying pressure surrounding the greenback.

Indeed, the dollar sentiment stays buoyant so far this week against the backdrop of increasing safe haven demand in response to unremitting fears around the coronavirus and its impact on the global growth.

Data wise in the euro area, Retail Sales in the broader bloc expanded 0.9% inter-month and 3.0% from a year earlier in February, more than initially forecasted. On the negative side, albeit largely anticipates, final Services PMIs for the month of March surprised to the downside.

Across the Atlantic, all the attention will be on the release of the monthly Payrolls, where consensus expect the US economy to have trimmed jobs by around 100K and the unemployment rate to have increased to 3.8%.

What to look for around EUR

The rally in EUR/USD appears to have met a tough hurdle in the vicinity 1.1150 so far, sparking the ongoing corrective downside. In the meantime, dynamics around the greenback plus developments from the COVID-19 are expected to keep ruling the price action in the pair. On the macro view, recent better-than-forecasted PMIs in both Germany and the broader Euroland opened the door to some respite in the prevailing downtrend in fundamentals in the region, although the underlying stance still remains well on the negative side and aggravated by recession fears in response to the COVID-19 fallout as well as the probability of the re-emergence of disinflationary trends.

EUR/USD levels to watch

At the moment, the pair is losing 0.52% at 1.0798 and faces the next support at 1.0777 (monthly low Feb.20) seconded by 1.0635 (2020 low Mar.20) and finally 1.0569 (monthly low Apr.10 2017). On the flip side, a break above 1.0964 (38.2% Fibo of the March drop) would target 1.0992 (monthly low Jan.29) en route to 1.1071 (200-day SMA).