Talking Points
- The Euro backtracked a little following a very modest miss for the Gfk consumer confidence survey
- German consumers were a little less upbeat in the latest edition than they had been a month before
- The index seems to have topped out at the 10.2 level once again
The Euro took a small fall early in Thursday’s European trading session by news that German consumer confidence had slipped a little.
The monthly index for March from market research company Gfk came in at 10.0. This was a whisker below the 10.1 which markets were on the lookout for and February’s 10.2. The index is compiled on behalf of the European Commission.
The index had been rising since December but seems to have peaked at that 10.2 mark. It did the same in 2016, rising from 9.4 in April to peak at the same 10.2 level in September.
Still the fall was hardly catastrophic and the Euro didn’t slide far in the aftermath. EUR/USD fell to 1.05479 from 1.05576 just before the figures. That said a little more spending from German consumers is very much what Eurozone monetary-policy makers would like to see, so in that regard this modest slip back may be dispiriting.
Hit, but not hard: EUR/USD
Chart Compiled Using TradingView
The consumer confidence survey saw daylight at the same time as the final official reading of German Gross Domestic Product for 2016’s final quarter. This was in-line with the previous official estimate of 0.4% growth on the quarter and 1.7% growth on the year, both seasonally adjusted. Without adjustment the on-year growth rate was 1.2%, again as expected.
--- Written by David Cottle, DailyFX Research
Contact and follow David on Twitter: @DavidCottleFX
