A stream of data releases in the Eurozone have led to significant volatility in the marketplace today.
Euro
After Italian, German and French GDP figures for the 4Q of last year showed greater contraction than expected in three of the Eurozone’s key economies the Euro fell against several of its most traded peers.
The Euro’s losses were consolidated by a separate report which revealed a 0.6 per cent decline in Eurozone GDP. As this result was the worst recorded since the beginning of 2009 it caused a resurgence of concerns regarding the status of the Eurozone’s economic recovery and triggered a 0.8 per cent loss against the US Dollar.
As one foreign-exchange strategist commented: ‘They’re pretty awful figures. It could get a lot worse because the Euro has risen a long way since the start of the fourth quarter.’
In fact, the Euro has gained by 6.6 per cent over the last six months.
The common currency also posted declines against the British Pound, New Zealand Dollar and Japanese Yen. The New Zealand Dollar had broadly strengthened during Australasian trade following a stronger than forecast PMI figure for the South Pacific nation.
The Euro’s declines were further aided by the European Central Bank’s Vice President stating that, if required, the ECB is prepared for negative deposit rates.
Japanese Yen
Although Japanese GDP figures revealed an expected contraction in the Asian economy in the fourth quarter of last year the safe-haven Yen was able to advance as a result of comments relating to tomorrow’s volatile G-20 meeting.
Anton Siluanov, Russian Finance Minister, asserted that his country expected the world’s financial leaders to adopt a more hard-line attitude to exchange rate interference. The Yen has fallen rapidly in the past several months as a result of the Japanese Prime Minister pressing for fiscal methods which typically weaken a currency. But this news saw it rebound slightly, climbing 0.8 per cent against the Euro and modestly gaining on the US Dollar.
Siluanov was quoted as saying: ‘The G-20 countries have always held the position that currency policy should be based on market conditions. We should take a more specific stance on this.’
Pound Sterling
Although the weight of yesterday’s pessimistic Bank of England inflation report caused the Pound to drop against the US Dollar for a second day, Sterling leapt by 0.7 per cent on a bearish Euro.
Poor Eurozone GDP led to the common currency’s downward trend and allowed the Pound to bounce back from close to its lowest level against the European currency for over 14 months.
Meanwhile, UK five-year government bonds rose after the treasury sold worth 4 billion pounds worth of the asset.
Canadian Dollar
Today’s disappointing economic figures for the Eurozone pushed the ‘Loonie’ to its highest level against the Euro for over a month. In the aftermath of the worse-than-forecast GDP data for the currency bloc the Canadian Dollar strengthened by a whole per cent against the Euro.
Euro Exchange Rates
As of 15:52 pm
The Euro to Pound Sterling exchange rate is currently trading in the region of 0.8603
The Euro to US Dollar exchange rate is currently trading in the region of 1.3326
The Euro to Japanese Yen exchange rate is currently trading in the region of 123.9540
The Japanese Yen to Euro exchange rate is currently trading in the region of 0.0081
The Japanese Yen to US Dollar exchange rate is currently trading in the region of 0.0107
The Japanese Yen to Pound Sterling exchange rate is currently trading in the region of 0.0069
The Pound Sterling to Euro is currently trading in the region of 1.1620
The Pound Sterling to US Dollar exchange rate is currently trading in the region of 1.5485
The Pound Sterling to Japanese Yen exchange rate is currently trading in the region of 144.0380
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