Euro weakens on German data

Story link: Euro weakens on German data

The euro weakened versus most other major currencies on Wednesday as new data showed that German retail sales, production, and exports all were lower in November.

These indications that Eurozone economic growth could be slowing raised the possibility that the European Central Bank will not raise interest rates this year, and in fact the ECB is expected to hold interest rates steady at 4 percent when it meets on Thursday.

Retail sales in Germany dropped 1.3 percent in November, while production was down 0.9 percent and exports fell by 0.5 percent.

It took $1.4668 to buy a euro, but the the shared currency gained on the pound, which traded at 74.97p to the euro and gained versus the yen to trade at ¥160.5614 at nearly 1 p.m. in New York.

The pound fell against all major currencies on a report that consumer confidence in the UK was at its lowest in 10 months in December, raising the chances that the Bank of England will cut interest rates on Thursday, while the yen did almost as badly as it dropped against all but two major currencies as investors were more enthusiastic about risky investments.

It took $1.9565 to buy a pound, while it took ¥109.4600 to buy a dollar in early afternoon trade in New York.

The yen fell the most in relation to the South African rand and the New Zealand dollar, to ¥15.876 and ¥84.393 respectively.