Eurozone GDP and Trade Data Hits Pause on the EUR Breakout

After a quiet start to the week, the Eurozone’s economy was back in focus this morning.

Economic data included 2^nd estimate GDP numbers and March trade data for the Eurozone.

First Quarter Growth

In the 1^st quarter, the Eurozone economy contracted by 0.6%, quarter-on-quarter. Year-on-year, the economy contracted by 1.8%. Both were in line with 1^st estimates.

Please see here for the Eurostat report.

Trade

In March, the Eurozone’s trade surplus narrowed from €17.7bn to €15.8bn.

According to Eurostat,

• Exports to the rest of the world increased by 8.9% to €212.1bn in March 2021, when compared with March 2020.
• Imports from the rest of the world jumped by 19.2% to €196.3bn, however, when compared with March 2020.
• In March 2020, the trade surplus had stood at €29.9bn.
• Intra-euro area trade surged by 27.5% to €199.0bn in March 2021, when compared with March 2020.
• In January to March 2021, euro area exports to the rest of the world fell by 0.6% to €564.0bn, however, when compared with the same period in 2020.
• Imports increased by 0.3% to €514.4bn, leading to a trade surplus of €49.5bn compared with a surplus of €54.6bn in January-March 2020.
• Intra-euro area trade increased by 6.2% to €514.2bn in January to March 2021, when compared with January to March 2020.

 

Market Impact

Ahead of the numbers the EUR had risen from a pre-stat and current day low $1.21502 to a pre-stat and current day high $1.22197.

In response to today’s stats, the EUR rose to a post-stat high $1.22187 before easing back to a post-stat low $1.22152.

At the time of writing, the EUR was up by 0.52% to $1.22154.

Next Up

Housing sector figures from the U.S…