As the European session opened the Euro was still feeling the pressure after weakening yesterday in response to slightly disappointing German sentiment data.
European Central Bank President Mario Draghi’s comments regarding the prospect of additional easing measures, which were reinforced by ECB official Ewald Nowotny on Tuesday, also limited the common currency’s movement.
According to one industry expert; ‘It seems like an improvement in the Eurozone economic data has stalled. In addition, now that Germany’s election is over, the market could dust off the issues that had fallen out of focus, such as further aid to Greece.’
That being said, a GfK gauge of consumer confidence for Germany did advance from an upwardly revised 7.0 to 7.1 – better than economists’ forecast.
The Euro/Pound Sterling pairing is currently trading in the region of 0.8428
Today France will be the Eurozone nation under the spotlight as President Francois Hollande presents the nation’s 2014 budget and tries to prove to the European Commission that his government is taking public-spending cuts seriously.
Although Hollande has introduced changes to the French pension system, his actions have so far failed to impress European policy makers.
Philippe Gudin, who worked in the French Finance Ministry before becoming an economist with Barclays, said of the manoeuvre; ‘The retirement reform was disappointing compared with what could have been done – you almost hesitate to call it a reform. The reaction from Brussels on the budget will set the tone of things to come.’
The Euro was also adversely affected as risk appetite declined in the face of US budget talks.
Additional EUR/GBP movement could be inspired by today’s mildly influential UK CBI reported sales report, but EUR/USD volatility is likely given that US durable goods orders figures and new home sales data are due for publication from 13:30 GMT.
Euro (EUR) Exchange Rates
As of 08:50
The Euro/US Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.3477 >
The Euro/Pound Sterling Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 0.8428 >
The Euro/Australian Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.4410 >
The Euro/ New Zealand Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.6358 >
The Euro/ Canadian Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.3887 >
