The value of the euro against the dollar sank on Thursday due to weak economic statistics in the Eurozone. The released data was significantly worse than analysts' forecasts. The volume of retail sales in January decreased by a significant 5.9% compared to December. Experts had expected a decline of only 1.1%. The foreign exchange market reacted to this by selling the euro, as a result, the quotes of the EUR/USD pair sank by about 0.23%, to the level of 1.2032

At the same time, the US dollar is strengthening its position ahead of the next speech of US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. Investors believe that Powell will announce economic forecasts in light of the improvement in the situation with the coronavirus.

Statistics from the US also play an important role. The data on the number of initial applications for unemployment benefits in the country for the week through February 27 is expected to be released on Thursday, which will be published by the Department of Labor in the evening.

Meanwhile, the yield on major European government bonds rose but significantly less than that on US government bonds. This is largely due to the mixed signals from the European Central Bank about whether it needs to start reacting or not.

The ECB may well try to reduce rising bond yields in its March 11 decision. To prevent any unjustified rise in bond yields, the ECB may begin to show flexibility in its emergency bond-buying program. However, experts believe that this decision alone will not significantly reduce the exchange rate of the euro.

By the way, ECB members Luis de Guindos and Jens Weidmann said on Wednesday that they are not particularly concerned about higher government bond yields. Such comments suggest that no changes regarding the monetary policy of the Eurozone can be expected yet.