The Euro softened against the Pound and other peers on Wednesday due to the release of data which showed that the Eurozone trade surplus widened in November.
Whilst a surplus is often seen as a positive investors were concerned by the data showing the continued weakness of domestic demand in the region.
According to the European Union Statistics Office, Eurostat the Eurozone’s trade surplus widened to €17.1 billion. The increase was down to a decline in imports which suggests that demand for goods from overseas remains weak and cast some doubt on the regions recovery. Economists had expecting a surplus of €16.8 billion.
On a Non-seasonally adjusted basis, exports from the region fell by 2% on the year in November following a 1% rise in October; imports meanwhile fell by 5%, following a 3% contraction in October.
The report did provide some positives for the Eurozone. It showed that the crisis hit southern countries are beginning to show signs of increased competitiveness as exports from Spain, Greece and Portugal were up by 4% in the period from January to November, and trade deficits in all three country’s saw declines.
Data released earlier in the session showed that Germany’s growth rate for 2013 was lower than expected by coming in at 0.4%, down from expectations for a figure of 0.85%. Spain showed further signs of improvement as inflation in the country firmed to 0.3% on a yearly basis, up from the 0.2% forecast.
Euro (EUR) Exchange Rates
[table width=”100%” colwidth=”50|50|50|50|50″ colalign=”left|left|left|left|left”]
Currency, ,Currency,Rate ,
Euro,
,US Dollar,1.3625 ,
Euro,, Pound Sterling,0.8297 ,
Euro,,Australian Dollar,1.5306 ,
Pound Sterling,,Euro,1.2047 ,
US Dollar,,Euro,0.7338 ,
Australian Dollar,,Euro,0.6532 ,
[/table]
