By Samer Hasn Market
Euro was able to achieve some gains of 0.17% against the US dollar (EUR/USD) and reached the level of 1.09549 at the peak of the session’s highs, after a sideways path that witnessed some fluctuations later. Against the British pound (EUR/GPB), the euro touched the level of 0.86166 at 7:45 this morning, which is slightly close to the highest levels this week.
The euro’s mixed performance today come despite positive data for French industrial production and Italian retail sales, which came in conjunction with the weak performance of Eurozone bond yields.
Today we saw industrial production figures in France for November last year. On a monthly basis, industry output saw growth of 0.5%, which was higher than expectations of 0.1% and also represents the fastest pace since last July. The three months ending in November also recorded a growth of 0.8% compared to the same period last year.
While this growth came with a noticeable recovery in machinery and equipment production by 2.8% compared to 0.7% last October. In addition, mining, energy and water supply rebounded by 1.8% after a previous contraction of 2.7%.
On the other hand, we witnessed a noticeable decline in transportation equipment manufacturing by 5.5% after a previous growth of 9%. However, transportation items are usually very volatile in nature. Energy-intensive industries that rely heavily on also continued to record low levels of production due to the rise in electricity and gas costs during the year 2022, which is the period for concluding contracts for the following year to supply energy, which consequently led to a reduction in production levels.
As for Italy, retail sales recorded a higher-than-expected growth for the second month in a row at 0.4%, but they contracted by 0.1% during the three months ending in November as well compared to the previous three months. While the value of retail trade continued to grow for the 32nd consecutive month, at a rate of 1.5% on an annual basis.
In the bond market, Eurozone bond yields resumed their poor performance today, but a similar decline in US Treasury yields appears to have prevented further pressure on the Euro. The yield on ten-year German bonds reached the level of 2.160% at the maximum declines today, while the corresponding US Treasury bonds reached 3.979%, which is slightly close to its lowest levels this week.
While attention turns to the inflation numbers in the United States for December, which we will see tomorrow. While inflation is expected to rise slightly last December to 3.2% on an annual basis, which may put some pressure on the euro in turn.