The Euro remains close to a two-year high against the US Dollar despite the release of mixed data from the Eurozone and as traders continued to make their favourite anti-Dollar trade.
Business confidence in Germany declined in October, taking economists by surprise after rising for consecutive months previously. According to the data released by the Munich based CESifo Group, business confidence fell to 107.4 in October, down from the previous reading of 107.7 and below forecasts for a rise to 108.0.
The business climate index for the German manufacturing, construction and retail sectors all showed a decline in October as the Eurozone recovery remains fragile and concerns over a possible global economic slowdown grew.
“The fall in the German Ifo business sentiment in October provides another timely reminder that the Euro-zone recovery remains fragile” said Ben May, European economist at Capital Economics.
Elsewhere in the Eurozone there was some positive news for Italy which posted an improvement in its retail sales and the Netherlands saw confidence in its manufacturing sector rise slightly.
The Euro largely shrugged off the data and continued to trade close to a two-year against the US Dollar as worries over the stability of the American currency continue in the wake of the recent US federal government shutdown and debt ceiling impasse. The disappointing economic data out of the US over the past week fuelled investor expectations that the Federal Reserve will choose to delay tapering its monetary easing programme until next year, a move that weakens the ‘Greenback’.
Against the Pound the Euro softened slightly as GDP data out of the UK showed that the British economy expanded at its biggest margin since 2010. Gross domestic product rose by 0.8% in the third quarter, in line with expectations and up from 0.7% in the previous quarter.
Euro (EUR) Exchange Rates
As of 11:25 am GMT
The Euro/US Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.3808
The Euro/Pound Sterling Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 0.8517
The Euro/Australian Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.4398
The Euro/ New Zealand Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.6647
The Euro/ Canadian Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.4428
The Euro/ Japanese Yen Rate Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 134.1210
The Euro/Swiss Franc Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.2331
The Pound Sterling/ Euro Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.1741
The US Dollar/Euro Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 0.7242
The Australian Dollar/Euro Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 0.6945
The New Zealand Dollar/Euro Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 0.6007
The Canadian Dollar/Euro Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 0.6931
Swiss Franc/Euro Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 0.8109
