FX Focus: Euro slides as dollar strengthens and Macron's rally loses steam

The euro was on the retreat on Tuesday (9 May), falling below $1.09 for the first time in almost a week as the rally inspired by Emmanuel Macron's success in the French presidential elections lost momentum.

Having touched a six-month high of $1.1022 on Sunday night after exit polls showed Macron won the election by a comfortable 65.1% to Marine Le Pen's 35.9%, the euro steadily relinquished those gains.

Halfway through the session, the common currency was 0.39% lower against the dollar, trading at $1.0881, after falling below the $1.09 threshold for the first time since 4 May.

"Market reaction to Emmanuel Macron's win in the French presidential election turned out to be a massive anti-climax," said Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets.

"While the euro also slid back on some profit-taking the losses were partly as a result of a strong rebound in the US dollar as a number of Fed policymakers continued to make optimistic noises on the US economy."

Aside from gaining against the euro, the dollar was indeed on the front foot against its main rivals, trading 0.69% and 0.59% higher against the yen and the Swiss franc respectively, at ¥114.04 and CHF1.0047.

The greenback also rose 0.27% and 0.68% against its Canadian and Australian counterparts respectively, fetching CAD$1.3728 and AUD$1.3620.

"Continued strength in US economic data has allowed the Federal Reserve to tighten its monetary policy," said Fawad Razaqzada, market analyst at Forex.com

"The market now fully expects another rate rise in June. Meanwhile, major central banks elsewhere have also stopped loosening their policies.

"However, unlike the Fed, most are still either dovish or at best neutral. Thus, the dollar is likely to perform much better going forward against currencies where the central bank is still dovish rather than neutral."

In Britain, meanwhile, the pound slid 0.10% against the dollar, trading at $1.2927, but gained 0.19% against the euro to exchange hands at €1.1866.

Chris Saint, senior analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown currency service said: "Domestic influences to push the pound significantly in either direction have been thin on the ground."