As Greece readies itself for its fourth general strike of the year, the Euro was trading slightly higher against the Pound and posted gains against the safe-haven Yen and US Dollar.
The common currency has been boosted this morning by the expectation that a report due for release at 10:00 GMT will show that German investor confidence rose in July.
Economists have forecast that the influential German ZEW economic sentiment survey has climbed from 38.5 in June to 40 in July.
The Euro/Pound pairing is currently trading in the region of 0.8656.
Over in Greece unions are preparing for a one-day national mobilisation in protest against the fresh austerity measures the government is implementing in order to qualify for its next bailout instalment.
Public services will come to a standstill, transport links in and out of the country will be severely disrupted and demonstrations will be held in both Athens and Thessaloniki.
A decision on whether or not the bill is passed will be reached tomorrow, and if it is approved over 4,000 civil servants will be ‘redeployed’. Under the redeployment those affected will receive three quarters of their salary for eight-months, on the understanding that they accept a transfer to a different administrative department. Those who don’t cooperate risk losing their jobs completely.
Today the Greek populace intends to show just how deeply unpopular this proposal is in hopes of swaying MPs.
Other Eurozone news to watch out for today includes the release of the Eurozone’s consumer price index for June and trade balance figures for May.
Euro (EUR) Exchange Rates
As of 09:00
The Euro/US Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.3085 >
The Euro/Pound Sterling Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 0.8656 >
The Euro/Australian Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.4259 <
The Euro/ New Zealand Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.6698 <
The Euro/ Canadian Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.3649 >
