Weekly summary:
After the Italian elections ended in uncertainty and the feared series of automatic US spending cuts began the Euro dropped against the majority of its most traded peers.
With economists forecasting that 4Q GDP data for the currency bloc would reveal contraction the Euro continued to lose ground.
The common currency briefly recouped losses after Eurozone retail sales and services PMI data exceeded expectations, but fluctuated until the GDP figures were released.
As the Eurozone’s economy was shown to have contracted in line with expectations, market movement was limited in the initial aftermath of the GDP data being published.
However, news that Standard & Poor’s, one of the top rating agencies, had positively adjusted Portugal’s credit rating outlook the Euro gained on its peers prior to the ECB’s volatile rates announcement.
On Thursday the ECB opted to refrain from adjusting rates and intimated that economic recovery in the currency bloc could occur this year. Consequently the Euro climbed on its rivals, hitting a one-month high against the US Dollar.
But as the week comes to a close an unexpected stagnation in German industrial production, and the anticipation of positive US employment data, could cause the Euro to pare recent gains.
Euro Exchange Rates (as of 12:02)
The Euro is trading against the Pound in the region of 0.8730
The Euro is trading against the US Dollar in the region of 1.3123
The Euro is trading against the Australian Dollar in the region of 1.2782
The Euro is trading against the New Zealand Dollar in the region of 1.5848
The Euro is trading against the Canadian Dollar in the region of 1.3522