European session review: EUR under pressure as coronavirus remains in spotlight

EUR fell against most major currencies in the European session on Tuesday, as investors continued to pile into safe havens as coronavirus pandemic remained in the spotlight. 

Europe’s lockdown over the coronavirus continued to dominate headlines, along with government stimulus. 

The French President Emmanuel Macron ordered people in France to stay at home for up to 15 days because of the coronavirus outbreak.

Meanwhile, Eurogroup's Chief, Mario Centeno, said that Eurozone finance ministers have agreed to spend 1% of GDP to battle the impact of the coronavirus. Elsewhere, the President of Germany's Public Health Agency assumed that the coronavirus pandemic will take two years to run its course.  

Market participants digested the latest ZEW's survey, which revealed that Germany's economic confidence recorded its steepest drop on record in March, as global markets fear recession due to coronavirus outbreak. The ZEW Indicator of Economic Sentiment tumbled 58.2 points to -49.5 in March. That marked the biggest decline since the survey started in December 1991 and represented the lowest level since December 2011. Economists' had forecast the indicator to come in at -26.4. 

A separate report from ZEW showed that economic sentiment in the broader Eurozone slumped 59.9 points from the previous month to -49.5 in March, also the lowest since December 2011.