Euro powers this weeks trading with strong data

Tuesday was a pretty busy day with regards to data releases on the markets across the globe which started in Australia with trade balance figures and import/exports. The trade balance was better than expected although this had little effect on the bearing of the dollar which is still broadly weak across all majors.

Early morning and the release of a raft of European data, mainly from Germany, the main power house in the EU which had retail sales and unemployment – both key figures and both better than expected. This wasn’t enough to give the ailing single currency any boost though with the pound and US dollar still trading at strong levels. The EU inflation figures came in lower than hoped, probably the main reason for the euros lack of movement countering the positive German figures from earlier.

The afternoon saw a switch across the pond with Canadian import/export, international trade and PMI figures. Unfortunately for the Loony they all came in below par giving the pound further momentum to push on up against it. We have seen a near 3 cent gain by the pound this week so far this week so well worth looking at taking advantage if you have funds to send to Canada in the next couple of weeks.

In the other half of North America, again they had trade balance which posted better than expected, which gave the greenback a brief rest bite from the pounds recent gain. Alas, it didnt last long as all gains were reversed over the rest of the day.

So the pound is very much still in favour, riding high against most major currencies. It’s down to investor sentiment more than anything else so bear in mind this can change as easily as the wind. Don’t be caught out waiting for a couple more cent for your pound as we could easily see the current best in over a year levels fall away very quickly. It would just take a few poor data releases or a wayward comment by the BoE and fickle investors could switch allegiance.

Poor EU data this morning is already working against the Euro but the BoE credit conditions survey could put halt to that, we await to see. EU retail sales and the Fed interest rate meeting minutes tonight are the only other key releases to watch out for so stay in touch with us here at Currency Index to keep abreast of the results.