The euro rallied today thanks to the very positive macroeconomic reports released during the current trading session. The accounts of the monetary policy meeting released by the European Central Bank had no material impact on the markets, though they contained some interesting information.
Almost all PMI reports for the euro-area released by IHS Markit today were better than expected, be it for Germany, France, or the whole eurozone. The only exception was the French services Purchasing Managers’ Index, which came out below expectations. Growth of German gross domestic product in the third quarter of this year was finalized at 0.8%, up from 0.6% in the previous three months.
ECB policy accounts did not reveal anything particularly new, though they had some interesting highlights. European policy makers were optimistic about the eurozone economic expansion but expressed concern about sluggish inflation. There were discussion about setting a clear end date to the quantitative easing program, but it was ultimately decided that the program should remain open-ended.
EUR/USD edged up from 1.1821 to 1.1848 as of 17:16 GMT today. EUR/GBP gained from 0.8869 to 0.8961. EUR/JPY advanced from 131.49 to 131.74.
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