German Factory Orders Fail to Wow the EUR ahead of the ECB Minutes

It was a quieter start to the day on the economic calendar today, with the markets coming off the back of yesterday’s PMI numbers.

The German economy was back in focus ahead of the European open this morning.

German Factory Orders

In February, factory orders increased by 1.2% month-on-month, which was in line with forecasts. In January, orders had risen by 1.4%.

According to Destatis,

• Domestic orders increased by 4.0%, while foreign orders slipped by 0.5% in the month.
• New orders from the euro area rose by 2.7%, while new orders from other countries slid by 2.3%.
• Manufacturers of intermediate goods saw new orders increase by 0.5%, with orders for capital goods rising by 2.1%.
• New orders for consumer goods fell by 1.9%, however.
• When compared with February 2020, new orders were up 5.6%.

Market Impact

Ahead of Germany’s factory orders, the EUR had struck to a pre-release high and current day high $1.18809 before easing back.

In response to today’s data released, the EUR fell to a post-stat low $1.18695 before climbing to a post-stat high $1.18736.

At the time of writing, the EUR was up by 0.04% to $1.18733.

Up Next

The ECB monetary policy meeting minutes and U.S weekly jobless claim figures.

Following the ECB’s assurances of a ramp up in bond purchases, the markets will be looking for any hint of dissent.

We can expect the markets to be relatively forgiving of any pickup in jobless claims, however. Last week’s NFP numbers and U.S government fiscal and monetary policy support is expected to continue to fuel the U.S labor market recovery.

On the U.S monetary policy front, FED Chair Powell is also scheduled to speak late in the day.