020 7898 0500The euro put on a dominant display this week, making substantial gains against sterling and the US dollar. The euro – US dollar rate reached new highs for 2013 as we saw it rise above 1.38. Much of this strength can be attributed to the poor labour data emanating from the USA released on Tuesday, whilst the seventeen-nation currency also strengthened consistently against sterling throughout the week. Aside from mildly better than expected Producer Price Index data from Germany, there has been little hard data underpinning euro performance this week, yet it has continued to strengthen against major peers as investor confidence returns to the Eurozone. Manufacturing data from the Eurozone’s two largest economy was, if anything, slightly worse than expected with contraction seen in the French sector and minimal growth in the German, however the euro’s performance was not notably affected. Today the most important data release for the euro will be the German Business Climate data coming out this morning. The euro’s rise has been heavily influenced by events elsewhere as opposed to positive figures so we will have to wait and see if today’s figures provoke a change. Call your trader now to see whether the euro’s rise will continue.
