Data on inflation in Germany did not affect the quotations of the European currency, as attention was solely focused on the speech of the chairman of the Federal Reserve.
According to the statistics agency, Germany's preliminary consumer price index rose 0.5% in February from January, while the index grew 1.4% compared to the same period in 2017. These data almost completely coincided with the expectations of experts who projected an increase of 0.5% and 1.5% respectively.
The base index, which does not take into account the volatile categories of goods, also increased by 0.5% in February and by 1.2% compared to February 2017.
Given the fact that the data was in line with economists' forecasts, recent statements by ECB representatives that the stance of monetary policy will remain unchanged, along with the confirmation of such intent by the president of the central bank, Mario Draghi, it speaks of the weak prospects for the growth of the euro in the early spring of this year .
The data pointing to a drop in demand for goods with a long service life, passed for investors without a trace. According to the report of the US Department of Commerce, orders for durable goods in January this year decreased by 3.7% compared with the previous month. Economists had expected the decline to be 1.6%. As noted in the report, the main drop was mainly due to a 10% decrease in orders for transportation equipment. New orders for capital goods fell by 0.2%. The fall of this indicator is the first "call" that consumers are starting to save more.
Housing prices in the US in December of last year continued to grow. This report was presented by CoreLogic/Case-Shiller. Thus, the national housing price index in December grew by 6.3% compared to the same period last year. As experts say, the current sharp rise in prices already exceeds the growth of salaries in the US, which can affect inflation this year and slow it down a little.
Good data on consumer confidence in the US only supported the US dollar, which began its rapid growth after the speech of the new head of the Fed, Jerome Powell.
According to the Conference Board, the consumer confidence index in February this year reached 130.8 points against 124.3 points in January. Economists had expected the index in February to be 127.0 points. The report also indicates that the volatility of the stock market did not affect consumers who showed higher optimism about short-term prospects.