Last week, during a rather tense five-days of political wrangling and economic concerns, developments in the US saw the odds of the Federal Reserve tapering stimulus before March of next year drop, and the ‘Greenback’ tumbled as a result. Consequently, the Euro was able to post its most significant five-day advance on the US asset for a month.
However, the common currency’s performance against the Pound wasn’t as impressive last week as positive UK retail sales and employment data brightened the UK’s economic outlook and increased the appeal of the nation’s currency.
While pertinent Eurozone data releases are a little thin on the ground at the beginning of the week, the Euro could experience movement as a result of any news relating to the formation of a coalition government in Germany. Although Angela Merkel emerged victorious from the September elections the German Chancellor has yet to successfully organise her cabinet.
However, the vast majority of Germany’s Social Democrat party supported their leader’s decision to begin discussing the possibility of being the junior partner in a collation with Merkel’s Christian Democrats.
The Euro is currently trading against the US Dollar in the region of: 1.3683
According to Sigmar Gabriel, Chairman of the SPD, ‘It’s possible that unbridgeable differences arise during the talks so that a coalition isn’t possible. But if you decide to take up coalition talks, then your goal is to bring them to a successful end.’
While the German political situation will be in the spotlight for much of the week, today’s German producer price index will be of interest. As will the Bundesbank’s monthly report, due for publication at 11:00 GMT.
Investors will also be looking ahead to this week’s more influential data releases for the 17-nation currency bloc, including Eurozone/German services and manufacturing PMI and the German IFO current assessment survey.
Further fluctuations in the EUR/USD pairing could occur in response to additional information from US officials regarding the status of the Fed tapering QE.
As regards the EUR/GBP pairing, UK news to be aware of includes third quarter GDP.
Euro (EUR) Exchange Rates
As of 08:20
The Euro/US Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.3683 <
The Euro/Pound Sterling Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 0.8462 <
The Euro/Australian Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.4153 <
The Euro/ New Zealand Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.6100 <
The Euro/ Canadian Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.4083 >