To say the Euro has been volatile is an understatement. With all the hubbub in recent months, as well as the European Central Bank's quantitative easing program, the currency has been all over the place.
In May, we wrote about how the Euro had made a slight recovery from its $1,06 against the dollar to $1,1351. It seems, however, that it's back on the track investors were thinking it would be. It's currently trading at $1,0984 against the dollar.
The United States is picking up
“A pinch of optimism by the Fed in the u.s. economy was enough for the euro to squander its gain on the week against the dollar. The euro tipped into shallow negative territory for the week after the Fed's statement this week noted ‘solid' gains in the U.S. job market, a rate hike supportive assessment,” notes Joe Manimbo at Western Union in a currency note to clients.
As the U.S.'s gross domestic product grew at a better-than-expected annual 2.3% rate in the second quarter. This followed talks by the Federal Reserve chief Janet Yellen saying that the Fed will more than likely increase interest rates this year as it sees that the economy is growing well enough to handle the hike.
For months, the central bank has said that it's waiting to see significant improvement from the labor market before being convinced that it's time for a rate hike. On Wednesday's press conference, they made it seem as if they were nearing that threshold.
This would also be a boon for the Dollar because it would increase returns on deposits, making it a more attractive investment for outside investors. There's still room to run, according to Deutsche Bank, which believes that “long dollar positions are notably lower than at the last peak in the dollar in the spring, leaving room to rise.”
The question
The question is will the strength of the Dollar continue and, if so, when will the Dollar and the Euro reach parity? It's not ridiculous to think they will. In fact, some analysts believe that the Euro will reach as far as $0.80 against the dollar. While there's far less concern about the state of Greece, it's currently uncertain exactly how the European Central Bank's quantitative easing program will play out. And as the Dollar continues to be supported by a burgeoning economy, there's no telling what the timeline would be.