RationalFX: Euro Zone current account deficit at -€9.8bn [21/12/2010]

It was a relatively quiet day Monday however we did see some action in the afternoon as investors sold off the euro and sterling, which saw both lose half a cent against the dollar. This was mainly due to the contagion of sovereign debt which could now even see France downgraded from its top band AAA status.

Yesterdays’ Market Movers

• We started the morning with German Producer Price Index (PPI), this shows a change in prices of goods sold and came out less than expected and also dropped from the previous month at 0.2%. This is an inflationary figure and will no doubt give food for thought when thinking about interest rates.

• The Euro Zone current account deficit has been ballooning over the past quarter and came in above expectations to the tune of -9.8bn Euros.

• We had only one piece of data in the Uk today which was Preliminary mortgage approvals giving us an indication of the number mortgages approved which came in slightly less than expected at 45K.

• Euro Zone Consumer Confidence has shown deterioration from individuals who are less optimistic about future economic conditions. This, alongside other pieces of data, kept pressure on the downside for the single currency.

Today’s Market Movers

• We start the day off with UK consumer confidence; it is expected to come in at -21 and any level below 0 indicates pessimism of future economic conditions

• For the Euro Zone we have German Consumer Climate out which is an indicator of Consumer spending and is expected to come in ahead of expectations and to continue its upward trend

• In the UK we have the Public Sector net borrowing figure expected to come in much higher than last month at 16.8Bn this is despite the government increasing its taxes and reducing benefits but also be attributed to the bilateral loan to Ireland.