Euro is struggling a bit today following the release of January’s trade data. The disappointing data is leading to a slightly lower euro, even with the German Constitutional Court upholding the country’s participation in the eurozone bailout fund.
The eurozone’s trade surplus for January was much smaller than expected, leading to disappointment about the nature of the region’s economic recovery. Expectations for January’s trade surplus were for 12 billion euros, but the actual result was closer to 900 million euros. This much smaller trade surplus underscores the continued difficulties facing the eurozone economy. These challenges are very much in evidence today as the euro struggles against the dollar and the yen.
There was some good news for the 18-nation currency region, though. Germany’s highest court, which has been considering the legality of the eurozone bailout fund, decided that it was acceptable for Germany to participate. This means that there won’t be quite the same level of opposition to the fun, and that provides the ECB and eurozone leaders with a clear way forward when it comes to bailing out countries and propping up the euro.
At 12:52 GMT EUR/USD is down to 1.3900 from the open at 1.3922. EUR/JPY is down to 141.2045 from the open at 141.6655. EUR/GBP is up to 0.8386 from the open at 0.8368.
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