020 7898 0500As with sterling, a weaker US dollar led to the EUR and USD pairing hitting its highest mark since January 2015.
The key figure that the market was focusing on in the morning was the inflation gauge. As expected, the reading remained at 1.3% but, more importantly, the core reading (excluding food and fuel) pushed higher. The positive pick-up in inflation was largely ignored due to the positive gains that the single currency has made, which will have an effect on import prices.
The next couple of days are the main focus of Eurozone data released this week. Today we have the region’s first release of Gross Domestic Product for the second quarter which is expected to show growth of 0.6% on the quarter. In addition, the previous quarter is expected to be revised slightly higher. This is followed by the Spanish unemployment figures on Wednesday. The Spanish economy has been making a revival of late and the market will be keen to see if this trend can continue.
