EUR/USD edged higher to 1.0976, after dropping more than 1% on Thursday in the wake of the European Central Bank’s meeting.
The ECB raised interest rates again and kept its options open on whether more increases will be needed to bring down inflation, but President Christine Lagarde hinted at a pause in its tightening cycle as soon as September.
Inflation data, released earlier Friday, added to the possibility of a pause next month as inflation in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, the country’s most populous state, rose an annual 5.8% in July, below the 6.2% expected.
French annual inflation came in at 4.3% in July, a drop from the previous month’s 4.5%, and while Spanish inflation climbed to an annual 2.3%, this is still well below most of the other countries in the eurozone.
Elsewhere, GBP/USD edged lower to 1.2787, after dropping over 1% on Thursday, AUD/USD fell 1.1% to 0.6633 after data showed that Australian retail sales unexpectedly fell in June, while USD/CNY fell 0.2% to 7.1581.
