Starting today, the focus of the markets is on the elections to the European Parliament, which will last until Sunday. It is expected that eurosceptics will get more places in the European Parliament, but will not be able to form a majority. However, the growth of their influence in the EU will have a negative impact on the stability of the EU and the value of the Euro.
In addition to the start of the elections, today there were many macroeconomic reports published in the EU: Germany's GDP, as well as the business activity indices in Germany, France and the EU as a whole. As expected, the published data had a negative impact on the value of the Euro, showing the continuation of the economic downturn. The most disappointing for investors was the decline in the manufacturing PMI index in Germany: the index fell in May to 44.3 pips while 50 pips is considered to be the minimum acceptable level for the development of the economy. The index of business activity in the EU as a whole is also below 50 pips, at the level of 47.7 points, and does not meet the expectations of investors. In the middle of the day is expected the publication of the minutes of the ECB meeting, which is also likely to negatively impact the value of the euro.
The second half of the day will be fully devoted to news from the United States, where business activity indices are published, as well as data on the real estate market. The FOMC members speeches are also expected at the end of the day.
