News Stream – EUR

Oreo maker Mondelez has set aside 300 million euros ($326 million) to resolve an EU antitrust investigation into whether it blocked cross-border sales of its products in the European Union in breach of competition rules, the company has said in a regulatory filing. The European Commission opened a probe in January 2021 focusing on the parallel trade of Mondelez's chocolate, biscuits and coffee between EU countries where the company is a key producer in a market worth billions of euros. Mondelez, which also makes Cadbury and Toblerone chocolates, said it has been cooperating with the investigation and is currently in talks with the EU competition enforcer in bid to reach a negotiated, proportionate resolution.

The Euro has initially rallied during the trading week but gave back all of the gains to show signs of exhaustion.

The Euro has fallen rather hard during the trading session on Friday, after the United States reported 517,000 jobs added last month.

The dollar slipped on Friday as investors awaited the latest U.S. jobs figures, after jumping in the previous session following a raft of central bank decisions. The euro was last up 0.17% to $1.093, remaining far above September's 20-year low of $0.953. The Federal Reserve's Open Market Committee (FOMC) on Wednesday raised interest rates by 25 basis points to a range of 4.5% to 4.75%, a softer approach than the previous increase of 50 bps.

Sterling stayed close to its weakest level in four months against the euro on Friday, following a relatively dovish stance from the Bank of England the day before. The BoE on Thursday delivered its 10th straight interest rate hike, raising the key interest rate by 50 basis points to 4% - its highest since 2008. However, comments from Governor Andrew Bailey that inflation may have "turned a corner" signalled that Britain's central bank may be close to bringing its tightening cycle to an end.

Euro zone companies expect to slow the pace of price increases this year as their outlook for costs and demand becomes less clear, a survey by the European Central Bank (ECB) showed. Helping the ECB's effort to tame rising prices, its quarterly exchange with large euro zone companies showed they had been slowing the pace of price increases and were anticipating smaller rises this year. "Selling prices continued to increase in aggregate but at a moderating pace and with more variability across sectors and a less certain outlook," the ECB said in its summary of the findings.

Euro zone inflation is set to decline to 2.1% in 2025, just a shade above the European Central Bank's target, an ECB poll of economists forecast on Friday. The ECB raised interest rates for the fifth straight time on Thursday and signalled more hikes ahead, reaffirming it would stay the course in the fight against high inflation. Its Survey of Professional Forecasters, which ECB policymakers use as a key gauge of market expectations, showed economists were expecting the euro zone central bank to eventually conquer inflation - but not before another two years.

By Ambar Warrick

By Ambar Warrick

The Euro initially shot higher during the trading session on Thursday, but then turned around to show signs of weakness by the time New York it’s on board.

The British pound slipped on Thursday to its lowest level against the euro since September as investors awaited the Bank of England and European Central Bank policy decisions later in the day. The BoE is expected to raise its main interest rate by 50 basis points, its 10th consecutive rate rise, as it keeps up its fight against rampant inflation. A 50-basis-point move, which is largely priced in by money markets, would take the Bank Rate to 4%, its highest since 2008.

The euro dipped against the dollar on Thursday after the European Central Bank raised interest rates by a widely expected 50 basis points, while the Bank of England adopted a more dovish tone on inflation. The ECB penciled in at least one more hike of the same magnitude next month and said it will then evaluate the subsequent path of its monetary policy. The BoE also raised rates by 50 basis points and dropped its pledge to keep increasing them "forcefully" if needed and said inflation had probably peaked.

By Ambar Warrick

By Ambar Warrick

The dollar edged lower against the euro on Wednesday ahead of an eagerly-awaited Federal Reserve policy decision with investors hoping the U.S. central bank will signal the end of its interest rate hiking cycle. After a series of jumbo rate hikes in 2022 to tame inflation, the market expects a quarter-of-a-percentage-point increase in the Fed benchmark interest rate to 4.75%. Less clear is whether the central bank will continue to signal further rate hikes as evidence mounts that inflation and the economy are both losing momentum.