020 7898 0500Yesterday was a busy day in terms of data in the Eurozone, with the headline figures suggesting sluggishness on the continent. German and European Gross Domestic Product (GDP) figures fell below expectations. Thankfully, the Italian GDP release provided a more upbeat outlook, beating expectations. All three ZEW Centre for European Economic Research surveys – two monitoring German economic sentiment and one measuring sentiment for the whole bloc – failed to fall in line with forecasts. This saw the euro (EUR) weaken in early morning trading against both the US dollar (USD) and the pound (GBP), before strengthening in the middle of the day, only to fall again before the close.
The European Trade Balance and Spanish consumer price data are due for release today. Although not headline grabbing news, a below forecast reading from both could combine with falling investor confidence in the Eurozone to trigger euro volatility.
