During local trade the Euro has modestly advanced on the US Dollar, climbing beyond the 1.3000 level on the strength of last Friday’s disappointing US employment figures and positive data for the Eurozone’s largest economy.
The Euro Exchange Rate was in the region of 1.3006 against the US Dollar as of 11:51 am
Although an absence of significant global economic news has left the market fairly static today, the Euro was able to continue trading above 1.3000 after data showed a modest improvement in German Industrial Production.
In January production contracted by 0.6 per cent, but in February it enjoyed a slight rebound, rising by 0.5 per cent (0.2 per cent more than economists anticipated).
Production was down 1.8 per cent on the same period of 2012.
Although German business sentiment decreased in March as the crisis in Cyprus and the uncertain political situation in Italy heightened economic concerns, the nation’s economy is still expected to post a return to growth in the first three months of 2013.
As senior economist Aline Schuiling remarks: ‘In Germany, recent data points to a solid rebound in the first quarter. The second quarter may be a bit weaker due to some uncertainty from southern Europe but, in general, the German economy is in good shape.’
Euro movement remained relatively subdued after the data was published, and the common currency experienced equally limited fluctuations earlier in the day after a report revealed that investor confidence in the Eurozone fell to a five-month low in April.
Sentix index of investor confidence dropped from March’s reading of -10.6 to -17.3 in April. A reading below 0 indicates pessimism.
Although economists foresaw a decline, the figure was expected to worsen to -13.1.
Euro movement could occur tomorrow in response to German trade balance figures, and Thursday’s German CPI will also be of notable interest.
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