Eurozone Foreign Investment Data Reveals An Uneven Recovery

The euro remained above $1.36 on Wednesday morning, despite foreign business investment data which confirmed that the region's recovery was patchy. The common currency traded at $1.3658 at 4:45 GMT. The  

reported that the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development released its first estimates for 2013, which showed that although foreign businesses have upped their investment in the bloc as a whole, investment in France tumbled. Foreign investment in the eurozone's second largest economy dropped to $5.7 billion, a 77 percent decline. In other parts of the region, like Spain and Germany, investment rose. Foreign businesses invested 37 percent more in Spain and in Germany's investments rose to $32.3 billion, nearly quadruple last year's total. The lack of investment reflects France's growing list of weaker than expected economic figures and added to concern that the nation could be dragging down the bloc's recovery. In light of the country's struggling economy, President Francois Hollande has decided to change his approach and recently rolled out a new “responsibility pact”. The “pact” includes tax breaks and cuts down on high payroll taxes in an effort to smooth over clashes with France's business leaders. Moving forward, the euro could be in for a massive drop as the US Federal Reserve convenes for its latest policy meeting. There has been much speculation about whether or not the bank is planning to continue tapering its monthly asset buying plan by $10 billion. If the Fed does decide to cut back further, the dollar will likely gain ground against the euro.