020 7898 0500Monday was a mixed day for the euro as we saw it strengthen against a retreating US dollar, whilst seeing a slight weakening against sterling. These movements were perhaps surprisingly limited given the data that was released yesterday. Eurozone Consumer Price Index (CPI) data came out marginally under what was expected, indicating that levels of inflation are around 0.5% in the eighteen-nation bloc. This is still far less than the targeted 2% and was one of the key reasons for European Central Bank (ECB) President Mario Draghi lowering interest rates. Meanwhile, German Retail Sales figures were well below what was expected, showing a contraction of 0.6%, rather than the low level of growth that was expected.
Today sees the release of a host of moderately important data releases. These include Spanish and Italian Manufacturing data; German Unemployment data; and Eurozone unemployment data. None of these data sets are overly influential in the normal course of things – however, anomalies always have the potential to have a notable effect on euro rates.
