Euro area consumer sentiment index falls in August to lowest in 15 months

The European Commission’s flash estimate of consumer sentiment came out for the month of August. The flash estimate of the consumer confidence disappointed for the month. The index fell for the third month out of the last four in August. It fell by 1.3 points to -1.9, the lowest reading for 15 months.

However, moves of this magnitude are not uncommon in this series and consumer sentiment continues to be comparatively close to the top end of the range of the past decade implying that, on balance, consumer spending continues to be comparatively strong, sustaining the economic growth in the face of weak export demand, noted Daiwa Capital Market in a research report.

The ECB’s account from the late-July Governing Council meeting underlined the ECB’s assessment that net trade – particularly due to protectionism – represents the most considerable downside risk to the outlook. However, members considered that overall risks to the ECB’s euro area growth outlook could still be assessed as widely balanced.

“In our view, however, the risks to that forecast, and the ECB's inflation projection, are skewed to the downside”, added Daiwa Capital Market Research.

At 19:00 GMT the FxWirePro's Hourly Strength Index of Euro was bullish at 85.705, while the FxWirePro's Hourly Strength Index of US Dollar was slightly bullish at 70.4782. For more details on FxWirePro's Currency Strength Index, visit http://www.fxwirepro.com/currencyindex