The Pound was little moved against the Euro on Monday due to the trade being relatively quiet as investors await the release of data later in the week.
The Euro firmed against the US Dollar and some other peers however following the publication of data which showed that business confidence in Germany, the Eurozone’s biggest economy climbed to its strongest level in over two years.
According to the Ifo institutes business climate index confidence climbed to a reading of 111.13 this month, up from the 110.6 level recorded in January. The figure is the fourth consecutive monthly gain and was the strongest figure recorded since July 2011. The figure was better than the 110.5 reading expected by economists.
A separate report showed that inflation in the Eurozone widely matched economist expectations. The consumer price index remained at 0.8% year on year but fell to -1.1% on a month-on-month basis from a figure of 0.3%.
The Euro had been softened slightly over the weekend against the Pound after ECB President Mario Draghi said that the Central Bank was prepared was ready to add to stimulus measures if the inflation situation in the Eurozone continues to deteriorate. The single currency found some support after the Ukrainian Parliament voted to remove President Viktor Yanukovich and vowed to push for closer ties with the EU.
The Pound remained supported after Bank of England Governor Mark Carney said that the Bank of England will do all it can to support the UK’s economic recovery.
Tomorrow sees the release of retail sales data for Italy, GDP data for Germany and a business confidence report for France. Improvements in those figures are likely to send the Euro higher against the Pound due to a lack of data due for the UK.
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,1.3758 ,
Euro,, Pound Sterling,0.8256 ,
Euro,,Australian Dollar,1.5321,
Euro,,Canadian Dollar,1.5300 ,
[/table]
