020 7898 0500It was a busy day for the eurozone, with a raft of economic data releases. First up was Germany’s GDP growth rate for the first quarter of 2018 which came in below expectations at just 0.3%. The figure had been expected to come in at 0.4% which would still have been slightly concerning, but the fact it halved from the 0.6% in the final quarter of 2017 should be some cause for consternation. Year-on-year, it came in at 2.3% against an expectation of 2.4%.
Across the eurozone, the GDP growth rate was 0.4% which had been predicted by analysts and while both figures still represent growth, they still show that growth is slowing. It will be fascinating to see how the economy performs throughout the rest of the year and whether the eurozone’s economic performance peaked in 2017.
The German ZEW economic sentiment index for May came in unchanged and as expected at -8.7, as fears over a trade war continue to spook economists, as well as the political uncertainty surrounding Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Iran deal. It is the lowest reading since November 2012 and any hopes that the figure might beat expectations were soon extinguished.
Today we will see the inflation rate for Germany and the eurozone. European Central Bank President, Mario Draghi is due to give a speech around 1pm and it will be interesting to see whether he has anything to say about the recent economic data releases.
