020 7898 0500It was a welcome break last week for the euro but strength against its major peers came from weakness elsewhere. It made overall gains against the US dollar after data showed that US consumer sentiment had moved down to the lowest level since November 2014, adding to concerns over the strength of the US economic recovery.
However, the spotlight remained on Greece as the country rushed to meet the deadline for its €750 million repayment to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) – by drawing upon its emergency IMF fund. Despite this reprieve, the question remains as to how matters will unfold for the beleaguered nation. Greek officials were set to hold talks with the euro area and the IMF on Friday, to discuss the ongoing and relentless pressure on Athens to try and make an agreement for aid as it runs out of cash reserves. Also discussed was the important issue of timing.
There is a lot of Eurozone data released this week. Tuesday is a busy day, with Consumer Price Index (CPI) data out at 10 am followed by ZEW German business confidence data later in the day – the former is expected to hold steady and the latter is forecast to fall slightly. On Thursday we have the release of Eurozone Purchasing Manager Indices and on Friday a raft of data for Germany, Europe’s power house.
