fundamental alert

French Business Confidence Slips to Record Low as Major Economies Head into Recession

Monday, 17 November 2008 07:58:41 GMT  |  DailyFX Research

French business confidence fell to 77 in October, the lowest since the index began in 1987, while last month’s reading was revised lower to 86. To breakdown of the report showed that new orders from domestic and foreign market slumped to -23 from 7 in September, which suggesting that economic activity may deteriorate further as the Euro-Zone slipped into a recession during the third quarter.
Meanwhile, Euro-Dollar (EURUSD) was aided by cross flows, with the pair rallying in response to the improved tone in EUR-JPY and EUR-CHF since they recovered from early Asian weakness. EUR-JPY traded up to European highs of 122.88 and EUR-CHF extended its recovery from 1.5000 to trade above 1.5100 despite early weakness across the European equity market. The market is more optimistic after the weekend G20 meeting pledged cooperation to restore growth and stabilize markets, although there may be some disappointment as the session progresses due to the lack of concrete details. Nevertheless, EUR-USD challenged 1.2650 offers and continues to find a bid from 1.2600-10, while more standing bids have now moved in at 1.2550-70. Of note today are large expiries at 1.2600, which may attract should price action maintain a narrow trading band.

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