German and Eurozone Economic Sentiment Figures Deliver EUR Support

After a relatively quiet economic calendar through the Asian session, the attention was back on Germany and the Eurozone.

ZEW Economic Sentiment figures for March were in focus.

Finalized inflation figures from France and Italy also drew attention.

Inflation

In February, consumer prices remained unchanged, which was an upward revision from a prelim 0.1% decline.

The annual rate of inflation held steady at 0.6%, which was an upward revision from a softer 0.4% prelim.

For Italy, consumer prices rose by 0.1% in February, which was in line with prelim. In January, consumer prices had risen by 0.7%.

The annual rate of inflation ticked up from 0.4% to 0.6%, which was also in line with prelim.

Economic Sentiment

Of greater significance through the European session were ZEW Economic Sentiment figures for March.

The numbers were EUR positive this morning.

Germany’s ZEW Economic Sentiment Indicator rose from 71.2 to 76.6 for March. Economists had forecast a more modest rise to 74.0.

Sentiment towards current conditions also improved in March, with the indicator rising from -67.2 to -61.0. Economists had forecast an increased to -62.0.

For the Eurozone, the ZEW Economic Sentiment Indicator rose from 69.6 to 74.0.

The pickup in sentiment was aligned with better manufacturing sector PMI numbers from Germany and the Eurozone together with a pickup in both business and consumer confidence across Germany.

Market Impact

Ahead of today’s stats, it was a bearish start for the EUR. Early in the day, the EUR had fallen to a current day low $1.19137 before finding support.

In response to the ZEW numbers, the EUR rose from 1.19289 to a post-stat high $1.19388.

At the time of writing, the EUR was up by 0.10% to $1.19365.

Next Up

U.S retail sales and industrial production figures for February. Expect plenty of interest in the retail sales figures later today.