GBP/EUR

The Pound is trending lower versus the Euro in early trade on Tuesday.

The Pound versus Euro exchange rate is giving back gains from the previous session, which saw it close session 0.5% higher at €1.1225, slightly off the 2 week high of €1.1277 reached earlier on Monday.

Today the Pound is lower, snapping six straight sessions of gains. At 06:30 UTC, GBP/EUR is trading down -0.3% higher at €1.1198

Pound Drops As Confidence Slumps & Brexit Fears Return

The Pound slipped following data showing that confidence among British companies slumped in the second week of March, as the coronavirus crisis gathered pace but before the government shut much of the economy down. Sentiment was especially hard hit in the retail and service sector.

A separate report by GFK, revealed that consumer confidence also took a hit at the start of the month. Households became more pessimistic about the outlook for the overall economy and their own finances. Importantly this data was collected out in the first two weeks of Mach, before Britain went into lock down. This means that confidence is likely to have deteriorated further in the second part of the month.

Brexit concerns are also back in the picture for Pound investors. The coronavirus outbreak has renewed the tussle over the 31st December transition period deadline. The EU are urging Britain to do the right thing and extend the deadline. Boris Johnson is refusing to do so.

UK GDP, the final reading of the fourth quarter is due. This is expected to match initial forecasts of 0%

Euro Looks To German Unemployment

The Euro was on the back foot in the previous session after the Eurozone business confidence index slumped sharply on the month. The index plunged from 103.4 to 94.5 in March, which was better than what analysts had been expecting. However, the data was collected before many Eurozone nations implemented lock down and quarantine measures to control the spread of coronavirus.

Today investors will look ahead to German unemployment figures for March. The data will give a clue as to the severity of the hit that the German economy is expecting. So far, initial jobless claims from US and UK are pointing towards a huge surge in the number of unemployed. Expectations are for 25,000 more unemployed in Germany

According to the IAB labor market research institute, German unemployment could rise by 90,000 to 2.356 million this year if the crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic is mild. However, this number could top 3 million if the crisis is more severe.