020 7898 0500The euro had a positive day again, rising to two month highs against the struggling US dollar on Wednesday, thanks to the release of figures showing that the US economy has begun to slow down from recent impressive figures, making a rise in US interest rates less likely.
The strength was supported by better news for the European economy. German consumer price index had risen at a rate of 0.4% in April; this was broadly in line with market expectations, but most importantly this eased concerns over the threat of deflation for the European economy as a whole. Further data showed that the Eurozone lending to the private sector had moved higher in March for the first time in three years, and consumer inflation increased for the first time in 2015.
This morning we have German retail sales which are forecast to drop to 3.2%, when the previous figure was 3.6%.The big news today will be the most recent European unemployment and Consumer Price Index data being released at 10am this morning.
