American focus: the euro fell

The euro fell against the dollar after better-than- expected data on U.S. retail sales . Data from the Ministry of Commerce showed that consumer spending in the U.S. has improved markedly in March , which is an early sign of the acceleration of economic growth in the spring of this year.

According to the report , the seasonally adjusted March retail sales rose by 1.1 % - to $ 433.9 billion last increase was the highest since September 2012 , and the total volume exceeded levels seen in November. I also add that many experts predicted increased sales by 0.8%. The February figure sales was revised upward to 0.7 % from 0.3 %. Excluding autos, sales rose 0.7 % in March , compared with forecasts of 0.5 %.

Retail sales , the economy as a whole, improved over much of the past year and reached a peak in November. Sales began to weaken in December and January , but now seems to start to recover. Note that in March, retail spending rose by a substantial 3.8% compared to the same period last year. Consumer spending accounts for more than two -thirds of the U.S. economy. Thus, expectations of stronger economic growth this year, largely helped increase spending buyers. Economists expect gross domestic product will grow by 3.0 % in the second quarter, compared with the predicted 1.5 % during the first three months of the year .

Earlier decline in the euro helped doves comments of the ECB. European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said that a further increase in the exchange rate will cause a further easing of monetary policy by the ECB. "Strengthening the exchange rate requires further monetary stimulus . This is an important aspect for our price stability " - Draghi said at a press conference during the meetings of the International Monetary Fund . In addition , he stressed that in recent weeks, the euro has a strong upward pressure on inflation , and said that the course is an increasingly important factor in assessing price trends by the ECB .

Little influenced by the data for the euro area . In Statistical Office , Eurostat reported that industrial production in the euro area rose by 0.2 percent compared with the same value in January ( revised from -0.2 percent). Experts predicted that this figure will increase by 0.3 percent. Compared with the same period last year , the volume of industrial production increased by 1.7 percent in February , and confirmed the expectations of analysts . Meanwhile, adding that growth in January was revised up to 1.6 percent from 2.1 percent.

Pound fell against the dollar , reaching minimum values ​​for nearly a week . Impact on the dynamics of data on Britain. As it became known , house prices in Britain have risen markedly in April , reaching a new record at this level for the second month , which was due to lack of supply of objects for sale and availability of mortgage credit. Experts point out that this combination will be for some time to provide upward pressure on prices. This was stated in the report of the real estate agency Rightmove. According to the index house prices rose in April by 2.6% , against the background of what the average price increased by 6,632 pounds - up to 262,594 pounds. This is 7.3 percent higher than in April 2013. We also add that the annual price growth was the highest since October 2007 . Recall that in March, prices rose 1.6 % on a monthly basis and by 6.8 % per annum. Studies have also shown that the average price of real estate in London reached a new record of 572,348 pounds, 19,818 pounds higher than in March.