Praet Says Easing Not Imminent

The euro reached above $1.39 after regaining its momentum following the release of the Federal Reserve's meeting minutes. The common currency traded at $1.3901 at 7:30 GMT on Friday morning as investors weighed the possibility of further ECB easing in the future. Falling house prices in both Spain and Italy dragged down eurozone property value data at the end of last year despite the region's improving economy. The bloc's residential property values declined by 0.7 percent from October to December. Spain saw the largest decline in home values with a 1.3 percent loss, closely followed by Italy's 1.2 percent decline and France's 1 percent drop. The data indicated that the European Central Bank's record low interest rate was not trickling down to those who needed it most. With the region's banks still cautious about lending, eurozone households are finding it difficult to get the financing to purchase a new property. Though weak economic data has many worried about the bloc's recovery, the euro maintained its strength as the prospect of further easing from the ECB was downplayed by executive board member Peter Praet. The Wall Street Journal reported that Praet said although the region is expected to suffer from a sluggish recovery until 2017, the ECB is not in any hurry to provide more stimulus. Lately, the bank has been under a lot of pressure to step in and help combat the region's falling inflation figures. However, Praet reinforced that the bank's inflation outlook remains unchanged despite the recent spate of poor data. Moving forward investors will be watching eurozone data closely for any indication that the ECB will be pushed into providing additional stimulus. If inflation continues to drop, many feel that the bank will have to give in to calls for intervention and cut the region's deposit rate or begin an asset purchase program.