Euro down after German data; eurozone final HICP and Draghi speeches in focus

The euro weakened slightly after the release of the final estimate of the German gross domestic product data for the fourth quarter as the numbers were little changed from the preliminary data even as the market awaited eurozone inflation numbers and a speech by ECB President Mario Draghi.

At 9.15 GMT, the EUR/USD was at 1.1314 compared with the previous close of 1.1331, extending the 0.4% decline of Monday, 23 February.

The disappointing IFO business climate indicator that weighed on the single currency the previous day has taken it closer to a short-term support line of 1.1270.

A break of that will open doors to the 26 January multi-year low of 1.1097, so the upcoming eurozone HICP data and Draghi's upcoming remarks will be watched keenly.

Germany expanded 1.6% from a year earlier in the December quarter faster than the 1.2% growth in Q3, data on 24 February confirmed. The sequential growth rate was 0.7% up from 0.1% in the September quarter. The numbers were the same as the 13 February preliminary release.

The Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) in the eurozone has fallen 0.6% in January as per preliminary estimates published on 30 January, surprising on the downside and Tuesday's (24 February) final estimates will be watched for any likely revision.

It was the second month of deflation for the eurozone and the CPI rate is at its lowest since mid-2009 as per initial estimates. The final figures will be published at 10:00 GMT.

The market focus will then shift to a speech by Draghi at the unveiling of a new €20 banknote in Frankfurt.

Draghi will address the public once again in the week, and the second time it will be during a plenary debate on the Annual Report 2013 in Brussels, making the remarks more noteworthy.