Marc Jacobs Hobo Hillier were limited as Chinese shares

The risk-sensitive euro and the Australian dollar fell briefly after data showing Chinese industrial production and retail sales

Marc Jacobs Hobo Hillier

fell short of market expectations, though losses were limited as Chinese shares quickly recovered.
"I thought the data was quite weak and there could have been more selling. But the market positioning is much lighter than before, so the euro's reaction to any negative news is smaller," said Masafumi Yamamoto, chief currency strategist at Barclays Capital.
The euro traded at $1.4392, down 0.l percent on the day but still keeping most of its rise from a three-week low of $1.4254 on hit on Monday.
Some traders suspected much of the bloated long positions in the euro were likely to have been unwound during a torrent of selling since last Thursday that pushed the currency down by 4.6 percent from a 17-month high of $1.4940. Speculators' net long positions hit the highest since July 2007 in the week to May 3, based on data from a U.S. regulator.
As the unwinding of euro long positions had been in part triggered by massive fall in oil and commodity prices last week, some signs of stabilization in commodity prices are helping the euro.