The Euro has edged upwards against the majority of peers following the release of better-than-expected trade surplus data out of the Eurozone’s biggest economy, Germany. Against the US Dollar the Euro has weakened after the ‘Greenback’ saw a surge in overnight trading as a result of positive jobs data in the USA.
Germany’s trade data for March showed that the country posted a trade surplus for the third month in a row, rising to €18.8 billion from the €16.8 billion in February. Despite the seeming improvement in the trade data, seasonally adjusted data showed that the trade surplus actually fell slightly to €17.6 billion from €17.7 billion in February.
At Berenberg Bank, senior economist Christian Schulz commented that exports rose by 0.5% from the level in February and imports by 0.8 percent.
“As exports started from a much higher base, the overall trade balance increased to 18.8 billion Euros,” he noted.
“Trade in the first quarter of 2013 overall was weak, as exports were 4.2 percent lower year-on-year in the first quarter of 2012 and imports 6.9 lower.
He said: “In the first quarter, exports remained under serious pressure from weak demand in the Eurozone. In addition, some wobbles in non-European markets in quarter one and competition from Abenomics-supercharged Japanese exporters started to make an impact.
“While Yen-weakness is likely to remain a problem for German exporters for some time, demand in the Eurozone and the rest of the world should stabilise over the course of the year. However, exports may be less of a growth engine this year than recently.”
He also commented that “despite the decline in imports from the Eurozone, Germany’s trade surplus with the currency zone is continuing to decline.”
Current Euro (EUR) Exchange Rates
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The Euro/US Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.3009<
The Euro/Pound Sterling Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 0.8438<
The Euro/Australian Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.2956
The US Dollar/Euro Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 0.7673>
The Pound Sterling /Euro Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.1845 >
The Australian Dollar/Euro Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 0.7716<
The New Zealand Dollar/Euro Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 0.6406 <
(Correct as of 10:15am GMT)
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