FRANKFURT (dpa-AFX) – The euro stabilized on Friday after losses during the trading week. In the afternoon, the common currency was trading at 1.1704 US dollars, slightly above the previous day’s level.
The euro had previously fallen for three trading days in a row and had lost just under a cent during this time. Investors’ uncertainty about the possible economic consequences of the closure of the Strait of Hormuz is currently clouding the mood on the financial markets, which has also put the euro under pressure.
Against this background, economic data was hardly moving. The mood in the German economy deteriorated significantly in April due to the Iran war and reached its lowest level since the Corona crisis, as the Munich research institute Ifo announced.
“The Iran war is slowly but surely destroying the German economy,” wrote Ulrich Kater, chief economist at Dekabank. The longer it lasts, the more noticeable price shifts to sectors other than heating oil and gasoline become. According to Kater, consumers are very insecure. Some companies are already seeing advance effects when purchasing preliminary products in order to be prepared against further price increases.
In the USA, the consumer climate surveyed by the University of Michigan fell to a record low in April. The Iran war appears to be affecting consumer sentiment primarily through price shocks for gasoline and possibly other goods, commented Joanne Hsu, director of the telephone survey of about 500 households.
For other important currencies, the ECB set the reference rates for one euro at 0.86803 (0.86575) British pounds, 186.71 (186.50) Japanese yen and 0.9199 (0.9177) Swiss francs. A troy ounce of gold (around 31.1 grams) last cost $4,723. That was around $29 more than on Thursday./la/he
