Euro Falls Amid Risk-off Mood, ECB Policy Eyed

(RTTNews) - The euro weakened against other major currencies in the European session on Tuesday, amid risk-off mood by the investors as British banking giant HSBC posted disappointing earnings and French student leaders vowed to carry out further protests despite government concessions on education aimed at easing mounting unrest.

France's official statistical agency INSEE reported earlier today that a measure of French consumer confidence plunged to the lowest since June 2013 in October, weighed down by widespread protests in the country over education, cost of living, and public policy.

Elsewhere, U.K. shop price inflation accelerated to its highest level in two and a half years in October, the British Retail Consortium said.

The shop price index climbed 2.1 percent year-on-year in October, faster than the 1.4 percent increase seen in September.

Traders await the European Central Bank's (ECB) monetary policy announcement on Thursday. Market expects the ECB to leave its key interest rates unchanged. Also, the Federal Reserve, the Bank of Japan and the Bank of Canada are scheduled to make their monetary policy announcements this week.

In the European trading today, the euro fell to nearly a 2-week low of 1.1136 against the U.S. dollar, from an early high of 1.1177. On the downside, 1.10 is seen as the next support level for the euro.

Against the yen, the Swiss franc and the pound, the euro slipped to 4-day lows of 175.60, 0.9226 and 0.8366 from early highs of 176.24, 0.9251 and 0.8378, respectively. If the euro extends its downtrend, it is likely to find support around 174.00 against the yen, 0.91 the franc and 0.82 against the pound.

Against Australia, the New Zealand and the Canadian dollars, the euro dropped to a 3-1/2-year low of 1.5844, nearly a 2-month low of 1.9545 and nearly a 1-1/2-year low of 1.5607 from early highs of 1.5925, 1.9648 and 1.5662, respectively. The next possible downside target for the euro is seen around 1.57 against the aussie, 1.94 against the kiwi and 1.55 against the loonie.

Looking ahead, U.S. building permits for September, U.S. ADP employment data, U.S. durable goods orders for September, U.S. S&P/Case-Shiller home price for August, U.S. Consumer Board's consumer confidence for October and U.S. new home sales data for September are slated for release in the New York session.