Euro holds steady despite weak eurozone data

June 24, 2014 | 08:33

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The euro held largely unchanged against the dollar on Monday, despite poor economic data for the 18-nation eurozone pointing to slowing growth, and a deeper contraction in France.

Euro currency. (AFP/Philippe Huguen)

NEW YORK: The euro held largely unchanged against the dollar on Monday, despite poor economic data for the 18-nation eurozone pointing to slowing growth, and a deeper contraction in France.

"Forex volatility continues to trade near record-lows and seemingly little promises to break the euro and the US dollar out of recent ranges," said David Rodriguez at DailyFX.

Eurozone business activity slipped for the second month running in June, suggesting the single-currency bloc's modest recovery could be stalling.

Markit Economics' Eurozone Composite Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) for June slipped to 52.8 points from 53.5 in May, coming in at the weakest level since December.

The data showed that growth remained robust in Germany, Europe's largest economy, despite weakening slightly, but that the downturn deepened in France, the country increasingly generating the most worry in the currency bloc.

Business activity in France slumped to 48.0 points from 49.3 points, even lower below the 50-point line which marks the difference between expansion and shrinkage of the economy.

"Although the survey suggests the eurozone as a whole should grow by at least 0.4 per cent in the second quarter, France appears to be entering a renewed downturn after GDP (gross domestic product) stagnated in the first quarter," said Chris Williamson, chief economist at Markit.

AFP

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