020 7898 0500In a week of significant data releases worldwide, the Eurozone played its part with key data. Germany and Europe saw their PMI figures for manufacturing, services and a composite of the two, beat expectations on Tuesday. Germany was the focal point of data releases from the continent for the rest of the week, with significantly better sentiment data from the Ifo released on Wednesday and the country’s GDP meeting expectations yesterday. Despite the broadly positive data, especially from the bloc’s most powerful economy, the euro (EUR) has fallen over the course of the week against both the dollar (USD) and the pound. Unfortunately for the single currency, the simmering Greek debt crisis and the increasing likelihood of a closely fought campaign in the French presidential election weighed it down despite the data released.
Today sees the week close with low-impact data releases from Italy and France. Although unlikely to move markets on their own, the political events already described do have the potential to cause even more volatility within euro markets.
