Germany exports fell another 4.4% in January after posting a 4.0% decline in previous month, while imports slipped 0.8% during the month amid expectations for a 3.5% drop in demands. As a result, the trade surplus crossed the wires weaker than expected as the balance widened to EUR 8.5B amid projects for a rise to 9.5B.
[U][B]Fundamental Headlines[/B][/U]
[I]• Merck to Buy Rival for $41 Billion [/I]– Wall Street Journal
[I]• Airlines Are Queasy as Customers Flee[/I] – Wall Street Journal
[I]• Barclays warned on toxic asset dumping [/I]– Financial Times
[I]• Pacific Holdings Files for Bankruptcy; 164B Yen Debt [/I]– Bloomberg
[I]• Hedge Funds May Cut a Record 20,000 Jobs as Losses Erode Fees[/I] – Bloomberg
[B]EURUSD[/B] – Germany exports fell another 4.4% in January after posting a 4.0% decline in previous month, while imports slipped 0.8% during the month amid expectations for a 3.5% drop in demands. As a result, the trade surplus crossed the wires weaker than expected as the balance widened to EUR 8.5B amid projects for a rise to 9.5B. Meanwhile, a separate report showed that price growth in German accelerated in February for the first time since July 2008 as the headline reading rose to 1.0% from 0.95% in previous month. Despite the minor uptick in inflation, the annual rate of inflation remains far below the ECB’s 2% target, and as price pressures continue to alleviate, rising risks for deflation could force the ECB to step up their efforts as the central bank maintains its one and only mandate to ensure price stability. Discuss the topic and your trade ideas in the EUR/USD Forum.
[B]GBPUSD[/B] – Industrial production in U.K. fell more than forecasts as outputs dropped another 3.1% in January after sliding 1.5% in the previous month. Weakening demands from home and abroad lowered the annualized reading to -13.8% from a revised reading of -10.2% in December, which is the lowest level of outputs since January 1981. In addition, manufacturing output fell 4.1% from previous month after contracting 2.1% in December, and pushed the annualized figure to -16.5% from a revised reading of -11.7%. The data continues to reflect a dour outlook for Europe’s second largest economy, and despite the extraordinary efforts taken on by U.K. policy makers, economic activity is likely to weaken further as economists project Europe’s second largest economy to face its worst economic slump since World War II. Discuss the topic and your trade ideas in the GBP/USD Forum.
