Germany’s March industrial production fell 0.7% month-over-month, missing forecasts and weighing on the Euro.
The EUR/GBP pair extended losses to near 0.8650 in early European trading after German industrial production contracted 0.7% month-over-month in March. The decline, worse than the expected 0.5% rise, followed a revised 0.5% drop in February.
Annual production fell 2.8%, deepening from February’s revised 0.2% decrease. The data underscored weakness in Europe’s largest economy, contrasting with steady UK monetary policy as the Bank of England held rates at 3.75%.
Traders now await comments from ECB officials, including Christine Lagarde and Isabel Schnabel, for clues on potential rate hikes amid persistent inflation pressures.