The main release from the eurozone on Monday morning was the inflation figures for November. The reading showed that annual inflation was revised lower to 1.9% last month from a preliminary estimate of 2% and down from 2.2% in October. It is the lowest rate of inflation for six months.
We also saw the balance of trade figures for October, which showed the surplus narrowed to €14 billion from €17.8 billion in the same month the previous year. While exports increased by 11.4%, imports increased at a faster rate of 14.8%. The euro had a relatively good start to the week and made some gains against sterling and the dollar. We could yet see some bigger moves before the week is out, especially given the Fed rate decision on Wednesday and continued Brexit uncertainty.
The only release of note from the eurozone today is the Ifo business climate reading from Germany for December. It is expected to dip slightly to 101.7 from 102 the previous month. Tomorrow we will see the eurozone’s year-on-year construction output for October.
