020 7898 0500The euro was weaker against the US dollar and slightly stronger against sterling on Friday after the release of mixed economic reports from the Eurozone. Preliminary data on Friday showed that inflation in the Eurozone rose by 0.4% this month, in line with expectations and after a slight increase of 0.2% in December. Further data on Friday showed that German retail sales fell 0.2% in December, compared to expectations for a 0.5% gain and after a revised 0.4% increase for the previous month.
Monday is expected to be a busy start with a raft of Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) data from Spain, Italy, France and Germany, as well as from the Eurozone as a whole. Tuesday has the potential to also be an important day for euro markets, with unemployment figure out for the Eurozone. This is expected to remain at 10.5% but in recent months it has been falling consistently but slowly, so any surprises could cause fluctuations in euro strength.
