Euro Spiral Continues Ahead Of US GDP And Jobs Data

 | Jul 30, 2014 05:44AM ET

The euro continues to lose ground on Wednesday, as the EUR/USD trades below the 1.34 level in the European session. On the release front, it's a busy day, with three key events out of the US - Advance GDP, ADP Nonfarm Payrolls and the Federal Reserve Policy Statement. In the Eurozone, Spanish GDP met expectations, posting a healthy 0.6% gain. However, Spanish CPI softened in June, with a 0.3% decline. Late in the day, Germany releases Preliminary CPI, a key indicator and market-mover.

The euro continues to head south, and has dipped below the 1.34 line for the first time since November. It's been a July to forget for the euro, which has coughed up about 300 points to the surging US dollar. If Wednesday's US employment and GDP figures are positive, the euro could lose more altitude.

CB Consumer Confidence was outstanding on Tuesday, pointing to a sharp increase in June. The key indicator jumped to 90.9 points, crushing the estimate of 85.5 points. This was the indicator's highest level since September 2007. Consumer confidence is closely tracked by analysts since a confident consumer is likely to increase consumption, which is critical for economic growth.

In  the Eurozone, soft German data continues to concern the markets. German Import Prices posted a gain of 0.2%, which was the best showing in 2014. This was shy of the estimate of 0.3%. On Friday, German Ifo Business Climate, a key indicator, dipped to 108.0 points, its third straight decline. On the inflation front, Germany has not been immune to Eurozone inflation woes, and we'll get a look at German Preliminary CPI later on Wednesday. The markets are expecting a weak gain of 0.2%.