020 7898 0500The main release in the eurozone was the German inflation rate figure which came in at 1.4% which was below the 1.5% expected. It was quiet for the euro against sterling, but the single currency weakened against the dollar following market speculation of four interest rate rises in the US this year.
There was a raft of economic data from across the eurozone yesterday, as we saw the services, industrial and economic sentiment readings. Services sentiment came in better than expected at 17.5, when 16.3 had been forecast; industrial sentiment was as predicted at 8.0; and economic sentiment came in at 114.1 against an expectation of 114.0. Business confidence was also slightly better than forecast at 1.48 when 1.47 had been forecast. Overall, a set of healthy readings.
Today we have the German Gfl consumer confidence for March and we will also see the unemployment figures for Germany. In light of what European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said on Monday, it will be interesting to see what the eurozone’s inflation rate flash reading is for February when it is released later today. It was 1.3% in January and is forecast to dip to 1.2%.
