Weekly summary:
The Euro began the week on a bit of a low as the possibility of the European Central Bank issuing another rate cut reduced the currency’s attractiveness.
However, after the release of significantly better-than-forecast factory order data for the Eurozone’s largest economy the common currency rebounded and gained on the majority of its rivals.
A second piece of surprisingly good German data followed, in the form of German industrial production figures. The 1.2 per cent month-on-month gain smashed economists’ expectations for a drop of 0.1 per cent.
After that report was released the Euro consolidated gains.
However, when US jobless claims fell to a five year low and Japanese investors were shown to be net buyers of foreign assets the US Dollar turned bullish, bursting through the 100 Yen per Dollar barrier. The Euro also weakened to 1.29 against the safe-haven currency.
The common currency has since recouped some of its losses as a result of moderately better-than-anticipated German trade balance figures.
The report showed that although trade in the first quarter of this year was weak overall, for the third consecutive month Germany has posted a trade surplus, with February’s 16.8 billion Euros rising to 18.8 billion Euros in March.
Over the weekend market movement could be triggered by any statements issued by the Group of 7 (made up of Finance Ministers and central bank chiefs). The G-7 are gathering today in order to discuss fiscal policy.
Euro Exchange Rates (as of 12:40 am GMT)
< Lower than last week
> Higher than last week
The Euro is trading against the Pound in the region of 0.8434 <
The Euro is trading against the US Dollar in the region of 1.2984 <
The Euro is trading against the Australian Dollar in the region of 1.2981 >
The Euro is trading against the New Zealand Dollar in the region of 1.5607 >
The Euro is trading against the Canadian Dollar in the region of 1.3090 <
The Pound is trading against the Euro in the region of 1.1856 >
The US Dollar is trading against the Euro in the region of 0.7689 >
The Australian Dollar is trading against the Euro in the region of 0.7717 <
