European session review: EUR mostly lower as COVID infections rise around EU

EUR fell against most of its major counterparts in the European session on Thursday as investors continued to fret over the rise of coronavirus cases around the EU, including in Germany, the region's largest economy.

Data showed that new COVID cases in Germany surged the most since January 9 yesterday. The report followed the announcement of the cancellation of the Easter lockdown by the German government on Wednesday. In France, the number of people with COVID-19 intensive care was the highest in 2021. Meanwhile, the EU governments continue to bicker over vaccine shipments. 

Market participants also assessed GfK's consumer confidence survey for Germany, which revealed that German consumer sentiment is set to improve in April. According to the report, the forward-looking consumer sentiment index rose to -6.2 in April from a revised -12.7 in March. This was the highest reading since December 2020. Economists had forecast the indicator to increase to -11.9.

Elsewhere, the European Central Bank (ECB) reported that the annual growth rate of the Eurozone's monetary aggregate M3 decelerated to 12.3% in February 2021 from 12.5% in January, averaging 12.4% in the three months up to February. Economists had expected a 12.5% advance. Meanwhile, credit to the private sector rose at a steady pace of 5.1% in February. Similarly, adjusted loans to the private sector grew 4.5%, the same pace as in January.