EUR/USD
1.17358
-0.083%
Gold
4388.54
1.611%
Oil
56.960
-0.818%
USD/JPY
156.795
0.080%
GBP/USD
1.34612
-0.089%
GBP/JPY
211.073
0.006%
Real-time News
The Russian Ministry of Defense stated that in the past week, Russian troops "liberated" nine residential areas within the Special Military Operations Zone (SMO).On January 2nd, Cyrus de la Rubia, chief economist at Commerzbank Hamburg, stated that demand for manufactured goods in the Eurozone has slowed again. The most obvious indicators are a significant decrease in orders, a reduction in order backlogs, and a continued decline in inventories. In this environment, its not surprising that companies continue to lay off workers. Companies seem neither capable nor willing to build momentum for the coming year, instead proceeding cautiously, which is poison for the economy. Since mid-2022, the manufacturing sector has been almost in recession. 2025 is expected to be a turning point for the industry. Indeed, the economic downturn has eased somewhat, but it has failed to shift to a sustainable growth trajectory. However, by 2026, Germanys economic stimulus plan and rising defense spending in Europe are expected to inject new vitality into the sector. Many companies clearly share this view, as confidence that production will be higher a year from now has risen again from already high levels. Furthermore, input prices have risen for the second consecutive month. This is unlikely to be due to energy prices, as oil and gas prices fell last December. However, prices of industrial metals such as copper and tin have seen significant increases. Surprisingly, despite the weak economic situation, businesses seem unable to force price reductions for goods less reliant on global markets. One explanation could be supply chain issues, such as long delivery times. In short, things arent going smoothly. Overall, it wont be easy for Eurozone manufacturing to regain its footing by 2026. However, expansionary fiscal policies might offer some assistance.The Eurozones M3 money supply annual rate for the three months ending in November was 2.9%, unchanged from the previous month.The Eurozones M3 money supply annual growth rate was 3% in November, compared to an expected 2.70% and a previous reading of 2.80%.January 2nd - Cyrus de la Rubia, chief economist at Commerzbank Hamburg, stated that while German manufacturing showed signs of recovery earlier in 2025, the downturn deepened again in December, driven by investment and consumer goods factors. The overall PMI index has fallen to its lowest level since February of last year. A sharp decline in export orders (now declining for the fifth consecutive month) foreshadows a very weak start to 2026. Surprisingly, in December, industry was affected not only by weak demand and falling sales prices but also by rising input prices. These prices had shown signs of stabilizing in recent months, but the increase was something not seen in nearly three years. This growth is likely due to higher prices for industrial metals such as copper and tin, which, in euro terms, are more expensive than last month and a year ago. Meanwhile, layoffs in December were almost unabated. Lower investment and cost-saving measures likely fueled this trend. However, the situation in 2026 may be different with the launch of government-supported infrastructure projects and strong demand for defense equipment. In fact, more and more companies are now expecting production to increase in a year.
