020 7898 0500Friday saw the euro fall further against its US counterpart, marking the seventh consecutive week of decline – the longest run in over a decade. Inflation and unemployment figures released on Friday morning came in as widely forecast, but it seemed that the forecast had not been fully priced into the market as we saw the currency hit fresh year-long lows against the US dollar. The euro held fairly steady against sterling, however, before dropping off to three-week lows on Friday afternoon.
Looking forward to this week there are a number of releases of note, but the key event will be the European Central Bank (ECB) meeting on Thursday and the central bank press conference which follows. Most forecast that interest rates will be held at the current record low of 0.15%, with a handful of analysts suggesting we may see further cuts. However, the key item will be to find out what measures the ECB will be taking with regard to some form of quantitative easing as they try to bolster the Eurozone economy. All eyes will be on the press conference following the meeting for clarity on what the ECB is going to do.
