The euro currency continued to weaken amid the political uncertainty from Italy. The common currency fell to fresh yearly lows at 1.1510 on Tuesday. Economic data was sparse leaving investors to focus on Italy which soured the general market sentiment.
The U.S. consumer confidence index from the conference board showed a decline to 128.0 on the index with previous month’s data also revised down to 125.6. The U.S. dollar however maintained its stronghold across the board.
The economic calendar picks up pace today starting with the import price and retail sales data from Germany. Revised GDP numbers from France for the first quarter will be coming out which is expected to confirm a 0.3% increase. Germany will also be reporting on the preliminary inflation figures which are expected to show a rebound of 0.3% in consumer prices on a monthly basis.
The ADP/Moody’s private payroll numbers will be coming out ahead of this Friday’s official payroll figures. Economists forecast that the private sector added 186k jobs during the month of May. This marks a somewhat slower pace of job gains compared to 204k that was registered previously. The private payrolls data will be followed by the final revised GDP estimates from the U.S. which is expected to remain unchanged at 2.3%.
The Bank of Canada will be holding its monetary policy decision later. Interest rates are expected to remain unchanged at 1.25% at today’s meeting.
