FRANKFURT (dpa-AFX) – The euro moved little on Tuesday. At midday, the common currency was trading at $1.0541. It was thus at the level from early trading. The European Central Bank (ECB) had set the reference rate at $1.0562 at the beginning of the week.
The economic data from Germany, which was better than experts expected in the morning, hardly moved the market. The economic expectations of the Center for European Economic Research (ZEW) improved unexpectedly from a low level in December. “A large majority of the financial market experts assume that the inflation rate will decrease in the coming months,” commented ZEW President Achim Wambach. “Together with the temporary relaxation on the energy markets, this leads to a clear improvement in the economic outlook.”
In the course of the day, the focus is primarily on inflation data from the USA. A further decline in the high level of inflation is expected. The development gives the US Federal Reserve reason to hope that the peak of currency devaluation may have been passed. It is therefore likely to conduct its inflation battle somewhat less intensively. A smaller interest rate hike is already expected for the interest rate meeting on Wednesday./jsl/bgf/jha