Talking Points:
- German GDP data came in exactly as expected for the first quarter of 2017
- Growth was solid rather than stellar but with some evidence that domestic demand played a bigger part
- The Euro didn’t pay much attention
What will drive the Euro and all other currency majors into 2017’s second half? Check out the DailyFX Quarterly Forecasts !
The Euro was steady early in Friday’s European session as German growth an inflation numbers came in right on market expectations.
The initial official look at Gross Domestic Product growth for the Eurozone’s largest national economy in the first quarter of 2017 came in at 0.7% on the quarter. That meant a 1.7% gain compared with the same period last year. Both were exactly as predicted by forecasters.
Without seasonal adjustment annualized growth was 2.9%, a tick above expectations, and the German statistics office said there was some evidence that domestic consumption helped growth.
EUR/USD had bumped through a rather dull Asian foreign exchange session, and the data didn’t alter things much. It remained around 1.0870, with investors possibly waiting for a look at US consumer prices later in the global session.
On that topic, final German consumer price index data for April were released at the same time as the GDP data. They, too came in as expected and as previously reported. The CPI was flat on the month and up 2% compared to April 2016.
--- Written by David Cottle, DailyFX Research
Contact and follow David on Twitter: @DavidCottleFX
