The euro continued to decline after inflation data in Germany coincided with economists' forecasts, demonstrating a slowdown in growth to almost zero.

According to the report, which was published today by the Federal Bureau of Statistics Destatis, the final CPI of Germany in December last year grew by only 0.1%, and the annual growth was 1.7%. The data completely coincided with the forecast of economists.

Despite the fact that in 2018 inflation in Germany was almost 2.0% and reached its target level, a sharp slowdown in the 4th quarter is an alarming signal for the European Central Bank, which is going to start raising interest rates this summer.

The EU-harmonized index rose by 0.3% last month compared with the previous month and by 1.7% compared with the same period of the previous year. As before, the main monthly growth driver was energy prices, which increased by 4.9%. Food prices rose 2.5%.

Today, a report from the European Association of Automakers was also published, which said that the number of registrations of new cars in the EU in December continued to decline, and this suggests probable deeper problems in the European economy.

According to the data, the number of registrations in December decreased by 8.4% compared with the same period of 2017 and amounted to 998,503. The reduction is directly related to the low demand in key EU markets.

As for the technical picture of the EUR / USD pair, there is currently a slowdown in the downward movement, which may lead to the formation of an upward correction in the euro. If the level of 1.1375 is able to keep the pressure of sellers, you can count on a larger increase in risky assets with a return to the resistance of 1.1440, which opens up the prospect of further growth in the maximum area of 1.1480. If the bears can push the support of 1.1375, then it is best to consider new long positions in the trading instrument after updating the minimum of 1.1340 and 1.1310.

Great Britain

The British pound continued to bargain in the side channel after the political fiasco of Theresa May, which was never able to get the approval of the Brexit agreement in the UK Parliament.

The inflation data, which came out in the first half of the day, was ignored by the market, as it completely coincided with economists' forecasts.

According to the report, the annual inflation rate in the UK has slowed down due to a sharp decline in gasoline and energy prices. Thus, the CPI UK consumer price index in December 2018 increased by 2.1% compared with December 2017, after rising by 2.3% in November. The return of inflation to a target level of 2.0% by the end of the year is good news for the Bank of England, which, in the face of uncertainty with Brexit, does not have to worry about further raising interest rates.

The speech of the head of the Bank of England also did not allow setting the market direction for the British pound.

Mark Carney, in the course of his speech, said that the slowdown of economic growth in China should continue, and the indicative forecast is 6%. In his opinion, the situation in China is one of the factors behind the slowdown in overall global economic growth, but there is no direct UK vulnerability in the face of the problems of the Chinese economy.

As for the technical picture of the GBP / USD pair, for the new powerful impulse growth, a breakthrough of the resistance area of 1.2890-1.2900 is required, which will lead to the formation of a new trend with the updating of monthly highs of 1.3020 and 1.3130. If in the near future the bulls fail to get above the 1.2890-1.2900 range, a downward correction in the trading instrument is likely, which will return the pair to the lows of 1.2750 and 1. 2620.