The euro enjoyed a decent end to the week by strengthening against the dollar and it also made some slight gains against sterling too. There’s no definitive reason for this, although it is possible that the EU’s temporary exemption from tariffs on US imports played a part. As it stands, the bloc has been given a 40-day exemption on tariffs which is both good and bad. Good because at least there is an exemption, but bad because it doesn’t bode well for future trade. Belgium’s Prime Minister, Charles Michel, said ‘I have the impression that the US leader wants to negotiate with the European Union by putting a gun to our head.’
Today is extremely quiet for economic data, but tomorrow we will see industrial, services and economic sentiment for the eurozone. We will also see business confidence for March and consumer inflation expectations. Wednesday sees the release of the German Gfk consumer confidence and on Thursday we will see inflation figures and the unemployment rate for Germany.