020 7898 0500The big talking point from the eurozone yesterday was Angela Merkel’s confirmation that she will not seek another term as German chancellor. Her mandate finishes in 2021, by which time she will have been one of the central forces in European politics. Merkel also told the Christian Democrats that she will not stand for re-election as the party chairwoman in December.
The euro weakened immediately following the announcement and it means that there will be a race within her party to succeed her as German chancellor. It is perhaps worth noting that it was already widely expected that this would be Merkel’s final term as chancellor, but it was only confirmed by Merkel yesterday.
European stock markets pushed higher yesterday, as investors approach a new month. October has been disastrous, with Bloomberg estimating that $8 trillion has been ‘lost’, largely because of rate hikes in America, the trade war, Italy’s budget row and Brexit. It will be hoped November proves to be much better, especially given that October is the worst month in a decade, when Lehman Brothers collapsed.
Today is extremely busy for the eurozone, with German unemployment and inflation rates set for release. We will also see the eurozone’s GDP growth rate for the third quarter of 2018, business confidence, and economic and services sentiment.
