The Euro has made gains against the Pound as optimism increased that the Euro region is making a recovery, albeit a painfully slow one.
Yesterday saw the single currency push higher after it found support from data which showed that Italy’s GDP and industrial production expanded in November. It received further support as Matteo Renzi won the leadership of one of Italy’s major political parties. The news pleased the markets who tout Renzi as a reformer and possible future Prime Minister.
The currency also continues to find some support from the European Central Banks decision to refrain from introducing a negative deposit rate and monetary easing measures. EU finance ministers also came closer to agreeing on a deal over banking union.
“The market was positioned for a weaker Euro in expectation of negative rates and what has changed is that we saw a strong implication that this is not necessarily going to be the case. There’s been a buying back of the Euro by global investors. Meanwhile, you’ve got Euro-zone economic data looking OK as well,” said the head of European hedge fund sales at Mizuho Bank Ltd.
Today the currency received support from data which showed that the inflation in Germany increased by 1.3% in November, up from the previous month’s figure of 1.2%. France too published some rare positive news as well. According to the Bank of France, the nation’s current account deficit narrowed in October to €-1.2 billion, an improvement on September’s figure of €-3.6 billion.
As usual when it comes to the Eurozone not everything was honky dory. Greece saw its unemployment rise to 27.4% in September, higher than the 27.3% recorded in the previous month.
The Euro could find further support in a relatively quiet day for GBP and USD related economic data if Ireland and Portugal post positive industrial production and inflation reports.
Euro (EUR) Exchange Rates
As of 10:40 am GMT
The Euro/US Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.3764
The Euro/Pound Sterling Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 0.8393
The Euro/Australian Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.5101
The Euro/ New Zealand Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.6652
The Euro/ Canadian Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.4580
The Euro/ Japanese Yen Rate Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 141.0743
The Euro/Swiss Franc Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.2213
The Pound Sterling/ Euro Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.1911
The US Dollar/Euro Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 0.7265
The Australian Dollar/Euro Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 0.6620
The New Zealand Dollar/Euro Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 0.6002
The Canadian Dollar/Euro Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 0.6859
Swiss Franc/Euro Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 0.8189
