Euro zone trade balance figures - worse than expected

Published: 19 March, 2012

Sterling had a strong day against the dollar whilst ending fairly flat against the euro, while in Europe trade balance figures showed poor returns.

Currency rates - March 19

EURO/GBP - 1.2035

US$/GBP - 1.5832

CHF/GBP - 1.4520

CAN$/GBP - 1.5708

AUS$/GBP - 1.4944

ZAR/GBP - 11.9820

JPY/GBP - 131.75

HKD/GBP - 12.2942

NZD/GBP - 1.9189

SEK/GBP - 10.7002

AED/GBP - 5.8204

US$/EURO - 1.3158

INR/GBP - 79.44

In Europe, data release on Friday showed that Italian Trade balance and euro zone wide trade balance figures came in much worse than expected . This week's main releases will be the Manufacturing and Services Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) from the Euro zone countries; furthermore, the European Central Bank (ECB) President will also speak.

In the UK, Sterling had a strong day against the dollar on Friday strengthening by more than 1.5 cents whilst ending fairly flat against the euro. There is a raft of data out of the UK this week with the markets paying particular attention to the release of the Bank of England meeting minutes and the annual Budget on Wednesday.

The US dollar had a poor day on Friday weakening off against the majority of currencies. Core Consumer Price index inflation figures released showed a slight rise; but, the data fell short of the market's expectations. US housing and unemployment data will be the main market movers this week as the county looks for more signs of economic recovery.

Elsewhere, the Japanese yen had a poor day as the Bank of Japan meeting minutes revealed that some of its members thought that the inflation target should be set at 1% for now, before eventually being set at 1-2%. The main releases this week will be the manufacturing PMI from China and the minutes from the Australian monetary policy committee.

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