Major Currency Pairs Analysis: June 21, 2013

 | Jun 21, 2013 06:46AM ET

EUR/USD
Euro-area services and factory output increased more than economists forecast in June, adding to signs the currency bloc may emerge from its record-long recession in the second quarter. Friday’s report “reinforces the view that the euro-zone recession is gradually petering out,” said Martin van Viet, senior euro-area economist at ING Bank NV in Amsterdam. “Please note, however, that any further recovery later in the year is likely to be very slow and bumpy. quarter contraction in the euro-area economy is forecast to end in the April-June period, when economists project gross domestic product will stagnant before growing 0.1 percent in the third quarter, according to a Bloomberg survey. Still, a slowdown in Chinese manufacturing is raising concerns that European exports may struggle to help the recovery at a time when budget cuts continue to damp consumer spending.