The euro was weak against the dollar and the pound on Friday, as both sterling and the greenback ended the week on a high. German industrial production unexpectedly dropped by 1.7% month-on-month, missing expectations of a 0.1% growth.
This week we’ll see a number of data releases for the Eurozone, including German economic sentiment figures tomorrow and Eurozone industrial production data on Thursday. This morning, German balance of trade figures showed that Germany’s trade surplus widened to €21.5 billion in October 2019 from €8.7 billion in the same month last year. Exports grew by 1.9 percent year-on-year to €119.5 billion in October, while imports declined 0.6 percent to €98.0 billion.
The ECB will make their latest interest rate decision on Thursday, followed by a press conference in the afternoon. They kept rates on hold last month and said that they intend to keep rates the same until the inflation outlook nears 2%.
This will be the first monetary policy decision with Christine Lagarde in charge. The ECB’s chief economist, Philip Lane, has denied calls from the likes of the Netherlands and Germany that monetary easing is reaching a reversal point.
Results of the UK election on Friday are likely to impact the single currency also. A Conservative majority is currently priced in, which could see the euro weaken against the pound.
