Euro makes a steady 0.3% gain overnight as Lagarde prepares inflation speech
The Euro is making steady progress at the moment, and has risen by 0.3% during the course of the night, starting the day just above its 50-day moving average.
That represents a strong position for the Euro, which had a value of $1.0578 against the strong US Dollar this morning.
Inflation has been a subject which has dominated not only the news channels recently, but also the everyday lives of a large proportion of the public across both the American and European continents, and this week the matter of rising inflation is on the agenda for announcements from the governments within the important economic centers within the European Union.
On Wednesday this week, Germany will announce its inflation figures, followed by France on Thursday and the Euro Zone as a whole on Friday.
Despite these imminent announcements, the Euro has held its ground very well. The US Dollar has been notably a strong currency against Western majors recently, itself gaining slightly over the Australian Dollar and the Japanese Yen during today's Asian market trading session which takes place in the during the night and early hours of the morning European time. The US Dollar rose to $0.693 against the Australian Dollar and 135.37 Yen would buy 1 US Dollar by the end of the Asian session today, which is close to the seven-year high of 144.24 Yen to the US Dollar which arose las week.
Despite the Dollar's rising value against these two non-Western majors, the Euro still made its ground against the Dollar today, which is remarkable considering the inflation-related announcements which are imminent across Europe.
Of course, the United States is battling with inflation which is at its highest in 40 years, just as is the case across most of the Western world, therefore the announcements in Europe align to some extent with the situation across the Atlantic in the United States.
Today, Christine Lagarde, President of the European Central Bank is due to speak at the European Central Bank forum in Sintra, Portugal at 8.00am GMT, with the anticipated main subject to be inflation.
Interestingly, the Swiss Franc has risen to parity with the Euro this week, largely driven by an interest rate increase by the Swiss National Bank which took place earlier this month, however elsewhere in Europe, the United Kingdom and the United States, the inflation situation is having a profound effect on the buying habits of the public and lifestyle changes have been taking place meaning less spending, and therefore a shrinking economy.
The cost of living has rocketed, meaning that per-capita earnings are less than they were last year by a considerable margin, causing concerns by millions of people as well as analysts and economists over the medium term strength of the Western economy as a whole, therefore some degree of volatility between major currencies, especially the Euro, US Dollar and British Pound has taken place which has over recent years been relatively rare.
Interest rate rises are also making their presence felt as mortgage and loan payments have been increasing across these markets, signaling a potential recession.
There is no magic wand to wave, however listening to central bank announcements, despite their current similarity in tone and content, is a poignant measure of the current state of each sovereign currency.