RTTN:Euro Down As Eurozone Economic Confidence Worsens In September
(RTTNews) - The euro was notably lower in early deals Thursday following a report showed that the eurozone economic confidence declined to a seventh straight month in September.
Caution ahead of the Spanish government approval of its 2013 budget today and banking stress results tomorrow also weighed down sentiment, which was largely positive in Asia on Chinese stimulus speculations.
The rating agency Fitch revised down the eurozone growth forecasts for the coming years also added pressure on the already struggling euro.
Eurozone economic confidence deteriorated to 85 in September from 86.1 in August, survey data from European Commission showed today. The reading was forecast to remain unchanged at 86.1.
Industrial confidence came in at -16.1, down from -15.4 a month ago. Likewise, services confidence dropped to -12 from -10.8 last month.
Driven by worsened expectations about the general economic situation, their households' financial situation and their savings, consumer sentiment fell by 1.3 points to -25.9 in September.
Business confidence declined to -1.34 in September from -1.18 in August. The expected reading was -1.2. The decline was driven by a more negative assessment of production expectations, order books and past production.
Germany's import price inflation rose more than expected in August, the Federal Statistical Office reported today. Import prices grew 3.2 percent year-on-year in August, sharper than the June's growth of 1.2 percent.
The annual growth was the fastest since February and exceeded the 2.7 percent rise forecast by economists. On a monthly basis, import prices moved up at a faster pace of 1.3 percent after logging 0.7 percent growth in July.
The euro fell to 0.7926 against the pound around 5:45 am ET, its lowest level since September 7. With the pair breaching the near-term support of 0.7930, the next likely support level for the currency cross is seen at 0.79.
The U.K. economy shrank 0.4 percent in the second quarter from a quarter ago, which was smaller than the 0.5 percent decline previously estimated, final data from the Office for National Statistics showed today.
Nonetheless, the economy remains in double-dip recession. Gross domestic product was down 0.3 percent in the first quarter and fell 0.4 percent in the fourth quarter of 2011.
The common currency also reached 99.83 against the yen and 1.2850 against the US dollar, down from Asian session highs of 100.30 and 1.2901, respectively. On the downside, the euro may find target levels at 99.50/55 against the yen and 1.2820 against the dollar.
(RTTNews) - The euro tested yesterday's low of 1.2081 against the Swiss franc before holding steady around 5:20 am ET. The euro is presently worth 1.2089 against the franc and a further fall below yesterday's low could set its weakest mark since September 12.
Looking ahead, the U.S. second quarter GDP, durable goods orders for August, weekly jobless claims for the weekended September 22 and pending home sales for August are the key data to watch in the North American session.
