SINGAPORE — The euro struggled to recoup its steep losses on Tuesday as investors sobered up to the fact that terms of the trade deal between the US and the European Union favoured the former and hardly lifted the economic outlook of the bloc.
France, on Monday, called the framework trade agreement a “dark day” for Europe, saying the bloc had caved in to US President Donald Trump with an unbalanced deal that slapped a headline 15 percent tariff on EU goods.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said his economy would suffer “significant” damage due to the agreed tariffs.
The euro slid 1.3 percent in the previous session, its sharpest one-day percentage fall in over two months, on worries about growth and as euro-area government bond yields fell.
The common currency last traded 0.07 percent higher at $1.1594.
“It hasn’t taken long for markets to conclude that this relatively good news is still, in absolute terms, bad news as far as the near term implications for euro zone growth are concerned,” said Ray Attrill, head of FX research at National Australia Bank.
“The deal has been roundly condemned by France while others – including German Chancellor Merz, are playing up the negative consequences for exporters, and with that, economic growth.”
The slide in the euro in turn boosted the dollar, which jumped 1 percent against a basket of currencies overnight.
