Midday Brief – Quiet EU Session

A much quieter European session with some retracement in the US dollars recent gains, with the EURUSD pair pulling back and stock gains not as strong as late.

The Germany’s wholesale prices fell for the third consecutive month to 2.9 percent from a year earlier in June of 2023, marking the steepest decline since June 2020, after a prior 2.6% drop in May and above market forecasts of 1.2 percent decrease.

On a monthly basis, wholesale prices shrank by 0.2 percent in June, the third successive slump, following a 1.1 percent fall in the previous month and compared to market estimates of 1.2 percent plunge.

Switzerland’s producer and import prices was unchanged from a month earlier in June 2023, following a 0.3 percent fall in May and defying market expectations of a 0.2 percent rise.

Higher costs of crude oil, natural gas, joinery and interior design products, offset the lower prices of metals and semi-finished metals.

The Eurozone’s trade deficit narrowed sharply to €0.3 billion in May 2023, compared to a revised €30.3 billion in the same period last year and market expectations of a €7.6 billion gap.

Imports tumbled by 12.8%, marking the largest decline since January 2021 and indicating weakening domestic demand. Purchases decreased for raw materials (-24.6%), such as fuels (-37.9%) and crude materials (-22.3%), as well as manufactured goods (-5.2%), specifically chemicals (-19.3%) and other manufactured goods (-11.5%).

Among major trade partners, imports declined mainly from China, the UK, the US, Norway, and Russia. Meanwhile, exports declined by 2.3% as sales decreased for raw materials (-18.3%), including fuels (-37.0%) and crude materials (-19.3%), as well as manufactured goods (-0.2%).

The slump in chemicals sales was partially offset by increases in machinery and transport equipment (13.5%). Exports dropped primarily to Norway, Russia, the US, and Japan.