Euro Rises On Strong German Ifo Business Confidence Index

05:06, 24th November 2014

(RTTNews) - The euro strengthened against most major currencies in the European session on Monday after the release of the better-than-expected German Ifo business confidence index for November.

Data from the Ifo institute showed that German business confidence index improved unexpectedly in November. The business confidence index rose to 104.7 in November from 103.2 in October, which was the lowest since December 2012. The score was expected to drop to 103.

The current conditions index came in at 110, while economists expected it to fall to 107.9 from 108.4 in October.

At the same time, the expectations index climbed to 99.7 in November from 98.3 in the prior month. The expected score was 98.4.

Meanwhile, the European stocks also traded higher on speculation that the European Central Bank will step up stimulus.

The U.K.'s FTSE 100 index is currently up 0.09 percent or 6.03 points at 6,756, France's CAC 40 index is up 1.02 percent or 44.28 points at 4,391 and Germany's DAX is also up 0.76 percent or 74.15 points at 9,806.

In the Asian trading, the euro held steady against its most major rivals.

In the European trading, the euro edged up to 1.3946 against the Canadian dollar, from an early 14-month low of 1.3881. If the euro extends its uptrend, it is likely to find resistance around the 1.42 area.

Against the U.S. dollar and the pound, the euro edged up to 1.2398 and 0.7924 from an early near 3-week low of 1.2358 and near a 2-week low of 0.7901, respectively. The euro is likely to find resistance around 1.26 against the greenback and 0.80 against the pound.

Moving away from an early near 2-week low of 1.4234 against the Australian dollar and a 6-day low of 145.57 against the yen, the euro rose to 1.4344 and 146.65, respectively. On the upside, 1.46 against the aussie and 149.25 against the yen are seen as the next resistance level for the euro.

Against the the NZ dollar, the euro edged up to 1.5758 from an early low of 1.5656. The euro is likely to find resistance around the 1.60 area.

Looking ahead, European Central Bank is due to announce data on covered-bond purchase in the New York session. Additionally, Markit is scheduled to announce the results of its U.S. service sector survey for November.