Euro skids toward fifth weekly fall but selling pressure slows

The euro has been sliding for a fifth consecutive week, with traders noticing the momentum of the selling trend weakening. France's debt market has shown signs of stabilisation, and a decline in US yields has somewhat dampened the dollar's rally. The common currency reached a 17-month low of $1.1161 on Monday due to concerns over France's high debt levels and the challenging political path to budget cuts.

Since then, the euro has recovered slightly to trade at $1.1211, marking a 0.3% drop this week and over 3% decline over the past five weeks against the dollar. The euro against the British pound is also down 0.3% this week, nearing a 16-month low at 84.74 pence. The euro to Swiss franc pair has steadied around 0.9324 francs per euro after a significant drop last week.

Analyst Matt Simpson from StoneX in Brisbane believes the market movements are exaggerated and that bearish momentum is starting to falter. France's far-right presidential candidate Marine Le Pen recently proposed plans to cut the budget deficit, which markets found reassuring, as her hard-left rival Jean-Luc Melenchon called for the central bank to cancel government debts.

French students blocked high schools and marched through cities in protest about education conditions, highlighting the dilemma for leaders between social spending demands and market skepticism. The feedback loop between the bond sell-off in France and social unrest may intensify bond yield spreads. Meanwhile, the dollar reached an 17-month high as global bond routs affected the euro.

The yen experienced a fourth consecutive weekly drop, though the movement has been minimal in the last three weeks, steadying around 158 yen to the dollar. The Australian dollar hovered around $0.6960, while the British pound was at $1.3233. New Zealand's currency is in its longest losing streak in over four years, heading for a seventh straight weekly decline due to its low interest rates of 2.75% compared to the Federal Reserve's rate range of 3.75% to 4%.