The Euro to GBP exchange rate softened further on Friday after data out of Germany disappointed economists and concerns over a possible escalation in the conflict in Ukraine weighed upon sentiment for the single currency.
Concerns over Ukraine rose Thursday night after new Ukrainian Defence Minister Valeriy Heletey promised that the nation’s army will retake Crimea in order to restore the nation’s territorial integrity. As Crimea is occupied by the Russians Heletey’s remarks raise the possibility of a direct conflict with Russia in the future.
The offensive against pro-Russian separatists is also continuing with clashes reported between government and rebel forces in the east of Ukraine. According to figures at least 250 civilians have died in the fighting, 200 government troops and 800 rebels have been killed since April.
The single currency was also weakened by the release of a report which showed that factory orders in Germany (the Eurozone’s largest economy) fell more than forecast in May as a result of geopolitical risks weighing upon confidence and as the Eurozone economy falters.
According to the data released by the Berlin based Economy Ministry, orders adjusted for inflation and seasonal swings declined by 1.7% from April. Economists had been forecasting for a decline of 1.1%.
The Pound was supported by the release of a report which showed that UK car sales hit their best half yearly amount level since 2005. Car sales in the country increased by 10.6% to 1.28 million in the first half of the year. New car registrations rose by 6.2% to 228,291 last month.
With the US markets closed for the Independence Day holiday, trade in the foreign exchange market is likely to be fairly muted.
Euro Exchange Rate News:
[table width=”100%” colwidth=”50|50|50|50|50″ colalign=”left|left|left|left|left”]
Currency, ,Currency,Rate ,
Euro,
,US Dollar,1.3591 ,
Euro,,British Pound,0.7929 ,
Euro,,Canadian Dollar,1.4460 ,
Euro,,Australian Dollar,1.4529 ,
[/table]
