EUR/USD: It's all down to ... 'cars', oh, and the French elections - Nomura

Analysts at Nomura explained that Europeans are buying cars, unlike Americans (EUR+).

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Key Quotes:

"One of the best barometers of consumers’ willingness to spend is car purchases. Today’s record EU new car registrations, then, are significant, especially when compared with lacklustre purchases in the US."

"Clearly, part of this divergence is the fact that the US saw a surge in purchases several years ago at a time when European purchases were struggling under the weight of existential concerns over the euro area. Now, European catch-up and likely strains in the US subprime auto loan market with higher US rates should keep the recent European outperformance in place in our view. As for the currency, the euro should benefit from this if we can get past the French elections without an extreme outcome."