020 7898 0500Yesterday was a busy day in the Eurozone, after the headline data releases were largely positive for the single currency. Despite negative German retail sales and flat Gross Domestic Product (GDP) numbers in France, the positive price data for the European Union (EU) – France and Spain also released better than expected results – showed inflation to be rising at 1.8%, which is very close to the 2% target. German unemployment also exceeded expected results. European Central Bank (ECB) President, Mario Draghi refrained from directly referencing monetary policy in his speech, instead stating his belief that financial institutions in the bloc needed to be more integrated to promote price stability. The euro (EUR) strengthened significantly against the dollar (USD), and slightly against the pound (GBP) but lost ground after an initial rally during yesterday’s trading session.
Today sees a raft of manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) data, including more high-impact releases from Germany and the EU as a whole – France, Italy, Spain, Ireland and Greece will also release this dataset. Other than a German bond sale, the only other release of note will be the EU’s economic forecast.
