European Central Bank President Mario Draghi delivered a speech yesterday in which he said that recent economic data from the eurozone was ‘somewhat weaker than expected’. Growth in the eurozone has slowed to just 0.2% and Draghi appeared to suggest that Trump’s trade tariffs were at least in part to blame for the slowdown.
However, he conceded that a gradual slowdown is to be expected as growth converges to its long-run potential. He added that the slowdown could well be temporary. He also aimed a thinly veiled jibe at the Italian government when saying that common rules need to be respected.
In terms of economic data, there was only November’s Ifo business climate from Germany which fell to a four-month low of 102.0 from an upwardly revised 102.9 the previous month. The markets had been expecting a figure of 102.3. It is another quiet day in the eurozone today, but tomorrow we will see December’s Gfk consumer confidence from Germany which is expected to dip a little to 10.5 from 10.6 the previous month.
