The Euro was little moved against the Pound on Monday in a session that saw no UK data releases and only a few minor Eurozone related ones.
The biggest piece of news came from Germany where data showed that industrial production in Europe’s biggest economy fell unexpectedly in October adding to concerns that the Eurozone’s feeble recovery is uneven.
According to the Berlin based Economy Ministry, industrial output fell by 1.2% in October, marking two straight months of declines. Economists had been expecting to output to have increased by 0.7%. The data adds to concerns that the Eurozone went back to its losing ways in the fourth quarter after briefly showing signs of a possible recovery earlier in the year. Hope of improvement isn’t lost however.
“Today’s hard data are definitely not a good starting point for the fourth quarter and represent a limit for solid expansion. Looking ahead we expect the picture to improve. German business surveys showed a rapid acceleration in November, all pointing to some gained momentum,” said an economist at Newedge Group.
In contrast to the disappointing German data there was some positive news for Greece. The debt ravaged nation saw GDP shrink at a slower pace in the third quarter of the year. According to ELSTAT, GDP contracted by 3% year on year an improvement on the previous declines of 3.7% and marks the fourth consecutive quarter where the recession has eased.
Portugal too saw some good news as GDP in the country expanded by 0.2% in the third quarter. It was at a slower pace than the previous quarter but confirmed that the bailed out nation is gradually easing away from the recession. The government has forecast that the economy should still shrink 1.8 percent for the whole of 2013 after last year’s 3.2 percent slump. But it should return to meagre full-year growth of 0.8 percent next year when Lisbon’s EU/IMF bailout ends.
Despite the data releases the Euro was little moved as investors take a wait and see approach to higher impact data released later in the week.
Euro (EUR) Exchange Rates
As of 12:55 pm GMT
The Euro/US Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.3721
The Euro/Pound Sterling Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 0.8375
The Euro/Australian Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.5116
The Euro/ New Zealand Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.6597
The Euro/ Canadian Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.4631
