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EUR: Draghi’s cautious approach sees euro weaken

By Smart Currency January 20th, 2017

The Eurozone has seen a busy, if a slightly mixed, week in terms of economic indicators. Monday saw the Eurozone’s trade balance come in better than expected, but Tuesday saw the ZEW (Centre for European Economic Research in Mannheim) release its widely respected Economic Sentiment data for the Eurozone and Germany – with both figures under-performing against expectations (Germany’s Current Conditions did beat predictions, however). Consumer price data showed prices rising as expected in Germany and the wider single currency bloc.

Yesterday was the busiest day of the week, and as well as the data from France, Spain, Ireland and Portugal, the European Central Bank (ECB) kept both its Interest Rate and its Deposit Facility Rate unchanged (at 0% and -0.4% respectively). The ECB’s chief Mario Draghi called for his critics to show patience, as he also kept the Central Bank’s quantitative easing programme at current levels. The cautious tone of the ECB left the euro vulnerable, and we saw it weaken to a 10-day low against the pound and to its lowest point in the day against the dollar, following the ECB press conference.

Today sees the week come to a relaxed close, with only lower-tier data releases from Greece and Belgium, as well as Germany’s producer price data.