The German GDP was confirmed to have declined 0.2% in the third quarter, data from Destatis showed on Friday. Flash manufacturing and services PMI were also weaker. The data suggested that there is a likelihood of a further slowdown in business activity in the Eurozone.
While the U.S. markets were quiet, Canada’s monthly inflation jumped 0.3% beating estimates of a 0.1% increase. This partly reversed the 0.4% decline seen the month before. Core CPI advanced 0.4% after a flat print previously. Retail sales for Canada showed a 0.2% increase which was better than the estimates. Core retail sales, however, rose 0.1% missing estimates.
New Zealand’s retail sales data released early Monday showed that the quarterly retail sales were flat for the third quarter. Core retail sales rose 0.4% on the quarter missing estimates of a 1.5% increase.
The EU summit was held in Brussels on Sunday. This follows last week’s EU and the UK Brexit draft deal. EU leaders unanimously agreed to the Brexit deal. The UK needs to get a parliamentary approval on the agreement before finalizing the terms.
Looking ahead, the economic data today is relatively quiet. The German Ifo business climate report is due. This is followed later in the afternoon by ECB Draghi’s speech followed the BoE Governor Carney.
