Eurozone March Sentix Investor Confidence misses estimates with -17.1, EUR/USD hits fresh lows

Investor confidence in the Eurozone deteriorated more-than-expected in March amid growing coronavirus concerns across Europe, the latest data published by the Sentix research group showed on Monday.

The gauge dropped to 17.1 in March from 5.2 in February and against a reading of -11.1 expected. Last month, the investors’ morale hit the lowest level since April 2013.

Sentix Chief Manfred Huebner said: “Investors are preparing for a long period of economic weakness.”

“investors wanted to see “a strong signal from monetary policy. Time is pressing! For if no action is taken, no one should be surprised by a new ‘Lehman’ moment that would increase the chaos. Either way, the recessionary environment that has now set in will probably weigh on us for months to com” Huebner added.

Its worth noting that Eurozone money markets now price in two rate cuts from the European Central Bank (ECB) by June vs. one last week.

About Eurozone Sentix Investor Confidence

Among 1600 financial analysts and institutional investors, the Sentix Investor Confidence is a monthly survey that shows the market opinion about the current economic situation and the expectations for the next semester. The index, released by the Sentix GmbH, is composed by 36 different indicators. Usually, a higher reading is seen as positive for the Eurozone, which means positive, or bullish, for the Euro, While a lower number is seen negative or bearish for the unique currency.

FX implications

The shared currency came under fresh selling pressure on the Eurozone Sentix data, as EUR/USD hit a new session low of 1.1366.

Despite the latest downtick, the sentiment around the major remains underpinned by broad US dollar weakness amid rising coronavirus risks globally.