020 7898 0500Yesterday marked a busy, if mixed, start to the week for the Eurozone. Economic sentiment came out at its strongest level since 2011 but German consumer price data fell below expectations.
Spain and Belgium both released their Gross Domestic Product {GDP} figures, which were in line with expectations, and the governments of France and Italy issued bonds.
The euro weakened against both the dollar and the pound early in the trading day but finished the day stronger against its major peers, ending the day up against the pound and as it opened against the dollar.
Today sees the beginning of the heavy-hitters in terms of data releases: as well as German unemployment and retail sales data, French GDP and consumer price information, and Spanish price data, we’ll also have a speech from European Central Bank President Mario Draghi. Any word from Draghi on the central bank’s monetary policy, specifically the possibility of an interest rate rise or a tapering of the quantitative easing programme, could cause significant volatility in euro markets.
