EUR/US$

The Euro pushed stronger in Asian trading on Friday as confidence in the US currency was generally weaker. There were renewed fears over the auto sector following warnings over possible bankruptcy for GM while there was also some speculation that the US fiscal stimulus was facing difficulties in Congress. The Euro pushed to a high above 1.27 and consolidated just below this level ahead of the US payroll data.

The headline employment number was close to market expectations with a 651,000 decline in non-farm payrolls for February. There were downward revisions to the January and December which meant that recorded employment fell by over 650,000 in each of the last three months while job loss over the past year totalled over 4 million.

The unemployment rate also continued to rise sharply to 8.1% from 7.6% the previous month as the labour-market remained under pressure. Consumer credit edged firmer for January, but fears over consumer spending will persist ahead of next week\'s retail sales report.

Confidence in Eastern European economies remained very fragile and this was still an important factor in curbing Euro support following the downbeat ECB assessment on Thursday.
The Euro challenged resistance levels above 1.2720 following the US data, but failed to sustain the gains and dipped back to 1.2635 as important dollar support levels held.

sources from trader planet