Euro Slightly Recovers on ECB Statements, Slightly Weakens On PMI Data

The euro made its way above $1.36 to begin the week after a modest drop on Friday following dovish comments from European Central Bank President Mario Draghi. The common currency traded at $1.3607 to kick off a busy week for eurozone economic data.

According to Reuters, Mario Draghi told a Dutch newspaper that the ECB's interest rates will remain low until the end of 2016. ECB Governing Council member Ewald Nowotny confirmed Draghi's sentiments in a separate interview with Reuters over the weekend, saying that the region's economic recovery was still in a fragile state, and the bank had to step in in order to prevent its collapse.

Nowotny defended the bank's decision to ease further in June saying that it was vital that the ECB's easy money policies trickle down to the mid-size companies that want to borrow.

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Earlier this month, the bank introduced several stimulus measures designed to fight the region's low inflation and help promote lending to eurozone businesses. The easing package included lower interest rates, including taking the deposit rate below zero, and a series of targeted loans to spur on lending among eurozone banks.

This week a spate of eurozone data will be out, but the effects of the ECB's latest easing is not likely to have made any impact just yet. Markit's PMI data, released today, confirmed expectations that the region's recovery remains patchy. As anticipated Germany showed a 12th consecutive month of expansion while France's manufacturing PMI contracted.

The combination had the Euro ever so slightly down at publication time.