About the euro to USA dollar exchange rate
EUR/USD — often called euro-dollar or “fiber” — is the most traded currency pair in the world and the benchmark quote for the euro against the US dollar. Around a quarter of global foreign-exchange turnover is in EUR/USD, which is why spreads are typically the tightest of any FX market.
The pair is quoted as US dollars per one euro. When EUR/USD rises, the euro is gaining versus the dollar; when it falls, the dollar is gaining versus the euro. The European Central Bank and the US Federal Reserve set the policy rates that dominate the medium-term trend, while risk sentiment and Eurozone versus US growth data drive day-to-day swings.
Corporates use EUR/USD to translate European revenues into dollars (and vice versa), asset managers to hedge international portfolios, and travelers to convert holiday cash. The inverse quote, USD/EUR, expresses the same rate as euros per one US dollar.
How EUR/USD is quoted
In EUR/USD, EUR is the base currency and USD is the quote currency: the price is how many USA dollar buy one euro. A rise in EUR/USD means euro strengthened against USA dollar; a fall means euro weakened.
What drives the euro to USA dollar rate
The EUR/USD rate mainly reflects the policy-rate gap, relative inflation, current-account balances and risk appetite between the euro and USA dollar economies. CPI, employment, GDP surprises and central-bank decisions typically cause the largest daily moves.