EUR / USD Drops as EU Data Disappoints and US Retail Sales Beats Expectations

The economic indicators our of Europe have not been kind to the single currency. Yesterday Germany published soft numbers and this time it was the turn of France. French Non-farm payrolls and CPI came below expectations. French NFP recorded a −0.3% gain less than the −0.2% forecasted. The Eurozone's Industrial output came in at −0.4%. The market was expecting the data to be an under performer as France and Germany had already reported their individual figures.

The market did not fully anticipate a strong United States retail sales figure. Total sales growth was 1.1% doubling the anticipated 0.5%. The combination of weak numbers in Europe and strong in the US drove the EUR/USD to levels not seen since last year since the fiscal cliff debate was in full swing.

Greece met with Troika officials (EC, ECB and IMF) amid protests in the streets. The social movements that started as an anti-austerity move have now transplanted themselves deeply in political...