Euro Remains Above $1.37 As Investors Cautiously Wait For More Data

The euro was steady at $1.3758 at 5:30 GMT on Tuesday morning as investors looked to the European Central Bank for more clarity about the region’s future monetary policy. The common currency suffered heavy losses last week after ECB President Mario Draghi indicated that the bank was planning to act in June.

Several of Draghi’s colleagues are set to speak this week, with Bundesbank chief Jens Weidmann being the most anticipated. The head of Austria’s central bank, Ewald Nowotny took a pessimistic tone on Monday, saying that it would likely take more than just an interest rate cut to fight the bloc’s falling inflation figures.

The common currency has resisted the pressure of the quickly escalating crisis in Ukraine, but could face some losses if things continue to worsen. Over the weekend, rebel groups celebrated a landslide victory in a secession referendum; something many worry could push the nation into a civil war.

The European Union declared this weekend’s vote illegal and has refused to recognize eastern Ukraine as autonomous.  The Wall Street Journal reported that EU foreign ministers decided to increase the bloc’s sanctions against Russia on Monday by extending the travel bans and asset freezes to include a Russian military commander, a high ranking Kremlin aide and several Crimean and separatist leaders.  Most notably, President Vladimir Putin’s deputy chief of staff Vyacheslav Volodin has been added to the list of Russians being sanctioned as the EU says he is in charge of Crimea’s political integration.

Moving forward, investors will be watching for fresh data from the region for any indication of the ECB’s next move.  The bloc is set to release CPI data and the German ZEW survey later in the day on Tuesday.