BLBG:Euro Retreats From 13-Month High as German Sales Slide
The euro dropped from a 13-month high versus the dollar as a report showed German retail sales fell more than economists predicted last month, damping demand for the 17-nation common currency.
The euro weakened most against the South African rand and New Zealand dollar as the data fueled concern the currency’s strength may undermine prospects of an economic recovery in the region. Sales in Europe’s largest economy, adjusted for inflation and seasonal swings, dropped 1.7 percent from November, when they rose a revised 0.6 percent, the Federal Statistics Office in Wiesbaden said today.
“No one really believes it’s a massive, sustainable recovery,” said Shant Movsesian, a foreign-exchange strategist at 4Cast Ltd. in London. “We’ll get a lot of ups and downs” and the euro will probably stay around current levels for the rest of the quarter, he said.
The euro slipped 0.1 percent to $1.3552 as of 10:58 a.m. London time. It climbed to $1.3587 yesterday, the highest since Nov. 18, 2011. The common currency fell 0.2 percent to 123.36 yen, after rising to 123.86 yesterday, the strongest since May 2010. The dollar dropped 0.1 percent to 91.02 yen.
The euro has strengthened 2.8 percent this year, the best performer of 10 developed-market currencies tracked by Bloomberg Correlation-Weighted Indexes. The yen weakened 5.4 percent and the dollar slid 0.2 percent.
To contact the reporter on this story: Lukanyo Mnyanda in Edinburgh at lmnyanda@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Paul Dobson at pdobson2@bloomberg.net
