The Euro tumbled against the US Dollar today as a wave of disappointing GDP data shook the Eurozone’s economic outlook.
The Euro Exchange Rate was in the region of 1.2885 against the US Dollar as of 10:35 am GMT
Earlier today the Euro dropped to 1.2904 against the ‘Greenback’ as the Eurozone’s two largest economies, Germany and France, posted less than impressive growth.
Although economists had anticipated that the German economy would expand by 0.3 per cent, the nation only posted a 0.1 per cent advance in GDP for the first quarter of the year – following on from negatively revised growth of 0.7 per cent in the fourth quarter. The smaller-than-expected growth was predominately driven by household spending while exports/imports and investment dipped.
Over in France meanwhile, economic contraction of 0.2 per cent in the first quarter (following on from the same decline in the last three months of 2012) left the nation in recession.
In response to these figures Markit economist Chris Williamson asserted: ‘The worse-than-anticipated start to the year will clearly worry policy makers at the ECB. Today’s data will add to calls that more action is required beyond what many see as a token gesture of a rate cut.’
And more disappointing data followed, as GDP for Italy and the Eurozone as a whole fell by more than expected.
Quarter on Quarter, Italian GDP fell by 0.5 per cent rather than the 0.4 per cent forecast (extending the nation’s recession) while the Eurozone contracted by 0.2 per cent rather than the 0.1 per cent economists expected, intimating that the 17-nation currency bloc’s recession is deepening. Year on year, growth in the Eurozone was down by 1 per cent.
The concerning result prompted Eurozone economist Ricardo Santos to observe: ‘This shows that fiscal tightening and the deterioration of market conditions in most of Europe are taking a bigger toll. That’s particularly worrying as the recent leading indicators for all the countries, including the core, have disappointed recently.’
The Euro continued to decline as the European session progressed, losing ground against rivals including the US Dollar and British Pound.
Further fluctuations in the common currency can be expected to occur tomorrow following the release of the Eurozone’s Consumer Price Index.
Current Euro (EUR) Exchange Rates
< Lower > Higher
The Euro/US Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.2885 <
The Euro/Pound Sterling Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 0.8468 <
The Euro/Australian Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.3079 >
The Euro/ New Zealand Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.5750 <
The US Dollar/Euro Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 0.7748 >
The Pound Sterling /Euro Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.1806 >
The Australian Dollar/Euro Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 0.7650 <
The New Zealand Dollar/Euro Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 0.6343 <
(Correct as of 10:35 GMT)
Comments are closed.