Inflation and Economic Sentiment Fail to Deliver EUR Support

It was a busier economic calendar this morning, with inflation and economic sentiment in focus.

Member State Inflation

Spain’s annual rate of inflation picked up from a revised 5.4% to 5.5% versus a forecasted 4.0%. The HICP increased by 5.6% in November, year-on-year. In October, the HICP had been up by 5.4%.

According to Ine.es,

• Prices for COVID-19 services were up 13.4% year-on-year, with prices for COVID-19 goods up 2.5%.
• Year-on-year pries for food and non-alcoholic beverages were up 3.2%, with prices for unprocessed food up 3.7%.
• Processed food prices were up by 2.5% year-on-year in November.
• Month-on-month, consumer prices rose by 0.4%.

Eurozone Economic Sentiment and Consumer Confidence

In November, the Economic Sentiment Indicator fell from 118.6 to 117.5, with the consumer confidence index down from -4.8 to -6.8, which were in line with forecasts.

According to the EU Commission,

The Employment Expectations Indicator increased by 1.7 points to 115.6, the highest level since Jan-2018.

Market Impact

Ahead of today’s stats, the EUR had risen to a pre-stat and current day high $1.13185 before hitting reverse.

In response today’s stats, the EUR fell to a post-release and current day low $1.12602.

At the time of writing, the EUR was down by 0.23% to $1.12920.

Next Up

Inflation figures from Germany are due out ahead of U.S Treasury Yellen’s scheduled speech.

Later in the day, ECB President Lagarde, FED Chair Powell, and FOMC member chatter will also be in focus. The markets will be looking for central bank views of the latest COVID-19 strain and government responses to contain the spread of the virus.