The story this week in the eurozone could be soft survey data that supports the ECB's contention that short-term economic risks lie to the downside. This may well be most evident in tomorrow's release of the flash PMIs for July, ING’s FX strategist Chris Turner notes.
“Today, however, we will get some consumer confidence data for July. The Dutch reading has already slipped back a little and the eurozone reading is released at 16:00 CET. Some further improvement is expected in the eurozone aggregate index, but a softer reading suggests fading hopes of positive real wage growth leading to higher consumption.”
“EUR/USD is trading in very narrow ranges at just under 1.09. Traded volatility is exceptionally low – e.g. three-month volatility is just 5.3% – and the market has concluded there is no trend here. Probably the next big input here (after Friday's core PCE figure) is the Fed meeting next Wednesday. That is probably a negative risk to the dollar.”
“Apart from consumer confidence later in the day, the only noteworthy event on the eurozone calendar is a speech from ECB Chief Economist Philip Lane. However, do not expect him to provide many clues of a September ECB rate cut, since the ECB has shifted away from forward guidance.”