The Euro was unable to strengthen against the Pound despite the release of disappointing retails sales data out of the UK.
According to the Confederation of British Industry the annual growth of sales in the UK fell unexpectedly over the past month, tumbling from a 15-month high of 34 to just 2 in October. The poor data was largely shrugged off however as most economists believe it to be just a glitch and were forecasting a return to strong growth next month.
“Although the high street recovery stalled this month, there is optimism that it was just a blip. It’s also encouraging to see that signs are pointing towards increased consumer confidence, backed up by continuing growth in certain areas such as furniture and carpets which all did well in October” said Barry Williams the chairman of the CBI survey panel.
In the Eurozone doubts are creeping in over the sustainability of the region’s economic recovery as unemployment remains high. Jobless data due for release later in the week is likely to highlight the disparity seen in nations such as Germany and Austria compared to Italy and Spain.
“We are still in a very discouraging situation for most of the euro area, that’s particularly true for Italy, where politics has come to a rest and necessary structural reforms are not kicking in at all” said Anatoli Annenkov, an economist at Societe Generale SA.
The regions unemployment data is due for publication on October 31st.
Against the US Dollar the Euro was trading at a two-year high on increased speculation that the Federal Reserve will choose to delay cutting its monetary easing programme until next year, a move that will devalue the ‘Greenback’.
Euro (EUR) Exchange Rates
As of 11:45 am GMT
The Euro/US Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.3812
The Euro/Pound Sterling Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 0.8523
The Euro/Australian Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.4355
The Euro/ New Zealand Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.6596
The Euro/ Canadian Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.4420
The Euro/ Japanese Yen Rate Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 134.8369
The Euro/Swiss Franc Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.2343
The Pound Sterling/ Euro Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.1732
The US Dollar/Euro Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 0.7240
The Australian Dollar/Euro Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 0.6966
The New Zealand Dollar/Euro Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 0.6025
The Canadian Dollar/Euro Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 0.6934
Swiss Franc/Euro Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 0.8101
