Euro to US Dollar Exchange Rate Forecast – Euro under Pressure as German GDP Disappoints

Frankfurt (Jan 15)  Yesterday the US published stronger-than-forecast retail sales figures and the ‘Greenback’ broadly strengthened as a result.

The US Dollar advanced on peers like the Euro and Pound as the report added to the case for the Federal Reserve persisting with its tapering programme, with the USD/EUR exchange rate edging away from a two-week low.

The Euro extended declines against its US counterpart early into the European session as growth data for the currency bloc’s largest economy showed less impressive expansion than forecast.

Since the onset of the global economic crisis Germany has stood tall while neighbouring nations crumbled.

The country avoided plunging into recession and helped the Eurozone return to tentative growth last year, but bolstering countries like Greece, Spain and Italy has taken a toll.

While economists had forecast that the German economy expanded by 0.5 per cent in 2013, year-on-year, it actually grew by 0.4 per cent following annual growth of 0.7 per cent in 2012.