The euro rose to a one-week high against the dollar after ECB President Christine Lagarde said the bank watches the exchange rate but does not target it. The ECB held rates steady, and the euro traded near $1.18 after a high of $1.1917.
Strategists noted the ECB has little room to weaken the currency.
A firmer euro makes dollar-priced US feed ingredients relatively more expensive for euro-zone buyers and signals that the ECB is unlikely to act to weaken the euro, which keeps currency-driven shifts in import demand in play.
After 388 past bullish macro events, Euro (USD per EUR) moved a median +0.3% over 5 sessions (62% higher; middle half -0.4% to +1.1%), and +0.1% over 20.
After 1,637 past bearish macro events, US Dollar (Broad) moved a median -0.2% over 5 sessions (39% higher; middle half -0.6% to +0.3%), and -0.2% over 20.
Moves of each commodity's benchmark from the last close before the event. Historical reads pool past events of the same kind; they describe what happened, not what will. Not investment advice.