Euro Falls On Growth, Interest-rate Concerns

(RTTNews) - The euro was lower against its most major counterparts in the European session on Tuesday, as concerns about inflation and slowing growth weighed on sentiment.

Interest-rate concerns returned to the fore after the Reserve Bank of Australia unexpectedly raised rates again by 25 basis points and kept the door open to further hikes, saying inflation still remained too high.

In economic releases, Eurostat reported that retail sales in the euro zone flatlined in April. Retail sales came in at 0 percent month-month-in April versus 0.2 percent expected.

Germany's manufacturing orders decreased further in April, but the fall was less severe than expected.

Factory orders fell a seasonally and calendar adjusted 0.4 percent month-on-month, preliminary data from the statistical office Destatis showed. That was much less severe than the 2.2 percent slump economists had forecast.

The euro fell to 5-day lows of 148.82 against the yen and 1.0666 against the greenback, from an early high of 149.69 and a 4-day high of 1.0732, respectively. The next possible support for the currency is seen around 140.00 against the yen and 1.04 against the greenback.

The euro declined to more than a 3-month low of 1.4328 against the loonie, near 2-week low of 1.7568 against the kiwi and a 2-1/2-month low of 1.6024 against the aussie, off its early highs of 1.4407, 1.7658 and 1.6208, respectively. The euro may locate support around 1.40 against the loonie, 1.74 against the kiwi and 1.57 against the aussie.

The euro was down against the pound, at 0.8603. If it drops further, it may find support around the 0.84 area.

In contrast, the euro recovered to 0.9710 against the franc, from an early 1-week low of 0.9688. The currency is poised to find resistance around the 0.98 level.