The Euro USD pair faced pressure on Wednesday due to the development of the American banking crisis, which spread to Europe. While officials say that the EU won't be affected by the Silicon Valley Banks bankruptcy, shares of large European banks continue to fall. The decline was so severe that trading in shares of UniCredit and Phoenix Group, a banker, had to be stopped. The focus of traders is the ECB meeting on monetary policy. According to forecasts, the European regulator may have raised the rate by 50 basis points. If expectations are confirmed, the Euro will be able to win back positions; otherwise, the European currency is at risk of hitting new lows against the dollar.


The dollar index remained stable during the trading session on Thursday. Yesterday, a block of economic statistics was published in the US. Those retail sales decreased by 0.4 percent last month after rising by 3.2 percent in January. The Producer Price Index on a monthly basis fell from 5.7 percent to 4.6 percent, confirming the reduction in inflation pressure in the US economy and giving the US Federal Reserve officials an additional argument for slowing down the rate hike. Most experts believe that the regulator, at its meeting next week, will raise the rate by 25 basis points instead of the previously expected 50 basis points.


There are also problems in the heaviest banking sector, which motivate investors to invest in bonds and gold. Finally, yesterday, Brent crude failed by 10 and tested the level of $71.65 per barrel. Pressure on crude is exerted by fears above the American banking crisis, which has already spread to the Eurozone and possibly China, affecting global business activity and significantly reducing energy demand. Additional pressure on the asset comes from an increasing inventory. According to yesterday's report by the Energy Information Administration, all inventories in the US increased by 1.5 billion barrels last week, indicating low demand in the domestic markets.