EUR/USD is stable on Monday, as the pair trades at the 1.24 line in the European session. On the release front, there was good news out of Germany, as Ifo Business Climate improved to 104.7 points in November. Later in the day, we’ll get a look at Belgian NBB Business Climate. In the US, it’s a quiet start to the week, with just one release on the calendar, Flash Services PMI. No change is expected in this reading.
The euro hasn’t had much to cheer about lately, and the currency took a tumble on Friday, losing over 150 points. This was a result of remarks from ECB head Mario Draghi, who warned that that inflation expectations were declining to levels that were very low and said the ECB is ready to expand its stimulus program. Deep interest rate cuts haven’t boosted growth or inflation, so the ECB has reached deeper into its toolbox and purchased covered bonds and asset-backed securities. So far, these purchases have been from the private sector, but the ECB could decide to expand these purchases to government bonds, known has quantitative easing (QE). However, there is strong resistance to QE from national central banks, such as the powerful German Bundesbank.
Eurozone and German PMIs softened in November, underscoring weakening activity in the manufacturing and services sectors. German Flash Manufacturing PMI dipped to 50.0 points, the separator between contraction and expansion. This marked the first month that the key indicator has failed to show expansion since June 2013. Eurozone Flash Manufacturing followed course, dipping to 50.4 points. This was the lowest reading recorded since June 2013.
In the US, there was a flurry of releases on Thursday. Consumer inflation met expectations, as CPI came in at 0.0% and Core CPI posted a gain of 0.2%. Unemployment Claims were almost unchanged, with a reading of 291 thousand. Philly Fed Manufacturing Index soared to 40.8 points and US Existing Home Sales improved to 5.26 million.
EUR/USD 1.2408 H: 1.2414 L: 1.2372
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