Eurozone Trade Data Underwhelms the EUR…

Following Wednesday’s FOMC projections and FED Chair Powell press conference, the focus returned to the Eurozone.

4^th quarter wage growth and January trade data for the Eurozone were in focus.

Wage Growth

In the 4^th quarter, wages grew by 3.5%, following 2.2% growth in the 3^rd quarter.

January Trade

Trade data was of greater influence early in the European session, however.

In January, the trade surplus narrowed from €29.2bn to €6.3bn.

According to Eurostat,

Compared with January 2020:

• Exports of goods to the rest of the world fell by 11.4%, year-on-year, to €163.1bn.
• Imports of goods from the rest of the world fell by 14.1% to €156.8bn.
• Inter-euro area trade fell by 3.9% to €159.7bn in January 2021.

Compared with January – December 2019:

• Euro area exports of goods to the rest of the world fell by 9.2% in January to December 2020 to €2,131.4bn.
• Imports fell by 10.8% to €1,897.1bn over the same time period.
• As a result, the euro area recorded a surplus of €234.3bn, compared with €221.0bn in January to December 2019.

Market Impact

Ahead of today’s stats, the EUR struck a current day high $1.19888 before hitting reverse.

In response to the trade and wage growth figures, the EUR rose from $1.19422 to a post-stat high $1.19439 before falling to a post-stat low and a current day low $1.19340.

At the time of writing, the EUR was down by 0.36% to $1.19350.

Next Up

U.S weekly jobless claims and Philly FED Manufacturing PMI numbers.

On the monetary policy front, ECB President Lagarde is also on the docket on the hour.