The primary currency pair remains in a consolidation phase on Friday. The current EURUSD exchange rate stands at 1.0877.
The US statistics released yesterday came out mixed, strengthening the market's belief that the Federal Reserve does not probably need to reduce the interest rate now.
Initial jobless claims decreased to 187 thousand over a week from the previous 202 thousand, while the forecast suggested an increase to 207 thousand.
Housing starts in December declined to 1.46 million from 1.56 million earlier. At the same time, building permits rose to 1.50 million from the previous 1.47 million. In the former case, the decline is attributed to the high current interest rates and just confirms the trend. In the latter case, the increase represents a forecast for the future. If the rates are reduced in spring, all the required permits will be already in place.