Recent trading this week has saw the euro drop. The Eurozone’s economic figures failed to impress, with official growth figures being reported at the back end of last week at just 0.1% in the final quarter of last year. This gave the euro somewhat of a mountain to climb heading into the start of this week, and things did not pick up from there.
France and Italy both faltered, showing concerning signs of little growth. With the German data release further failing to impress, the euro took another big hit. With Germany being the Eurozone’s economic powerhouse, the fate of the currency essentially rests on its shoulders. It may not be solely responsible for the fortunes of the EUR but such uninspiring economic data does weigh heavily on its long-term strength.
As the EU looked to crackdown on the UK following headlines suggesting that it would seek to impose tougher financial regulations on the City of London in the upcoming trade negotiations, the GBP has tumbled and helped the EUR to gain a slender advantage.
The news the grabbed the headlines with investors this week though, was the announcement of the EU potentially making changes to the MiFID II regulations. These regulations shook the financial world back in 2017 when they were released and changes to them may well do so again, with this strong message already sending the GBP tumbling further and the EUR into somewhat of an economic purgatory.
Meanwhile, the euro remains down against a strong performing USD which may also go some way to explaining its weakness over the course of the trading week. The dollar’s strength comes after several over-performances in US economic data which has bettered its peers by some margin.
Heading into next week, the euro’s fortunes still look uncertain - not as uncertain as the GBP - but when compared to the over-performing USD and the steadily improving AUD, things may be looking a little bit shaky for investors.