It was a short trading week with the markets closed on account of Good Friday holiday during the week gone by.

The U.S. dollar attempted to post a rebound after initially giving up the gains earlier in the week.

The declines came as the Jens Weidmann who is tipped to be the next ECB president gave a hawkish outlook on the Eurozone and did not rule out a rate hike in the Eurozone by 2019.

However, the euro was seen giving up the gains just as quickly by Thursday’s close.

Economic data was mostly quiet for the most part of the week.

The U.S. fourth quarter GDP was seen advancing higher than initially expected.

U.S. Q4 GDP rises more than previous estimates

The final revision to the fourth quarter GDP data showed that the U.S. economy advanced more than previously estimated.

Data from the Commerce department showed on Wednesday that the U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) advanced 2.9% in the quarter ending December 2017.

This was higher than the previous estimate which showed that the economy advanced 2.5%.

The upward revision to the GDP growth in the fourth quarter now reflects on a slight slowdown in the economy given that the U.S. GDP expanded strongly in the third quarter at a pace of 3.2%.

The revision to the GDP came from increased consumer spending.

Revised data showed that consumer spending which accounts for more than two thirds of the U.S. economy had surged 4.0% in the fourth quarter.

This comes amid consumer spending rising 2.2% in the third quarter.

Despite the increase in the GDP estimates, it was still seen to be slower compared to the third quarter’s increase.

The modest declines came amid a downturn in the private inventory investment while imports increased strongly.

The quarterly core consumer price index data showed that excluding food and energy prices, price growth accelerated 1.9% on the quarter which was unrevised.

This was however a strong print, compared to the 1.3% increase in the quarterly core consumer price index data registered in the three months ending September 2017.

U.S. Pending home sales rise 3.1% in February

Pending home sales data released last week in the United States showed a strong rebound after reporting a sharp decline just the month before.

Data from the U.S. National Association of Realtors showed that pending home sales increased more than expected in the month of February.

NAR said that its pending home sales index rose 3.1% in February to 107.5.

This follows January’s revised decline in the index which fell to 104.3, reflecting a 5.0% decline in pending home sales.

The pending home sales report reflects a home sale in which a contract was signed but the deal was not yet closed.

It is estimated that it takes about four to six weeks to close the contracted sale. The pending home sales data comes amid other housing market related economic indicators.

Data showed that existing home sales and new home sales were still rising higher although the momentum was seen to be easing.

Higher mortgage rates and slower pace of wage growth is expected to keep a check on housing prices which had surged strongly and sparked speculation of a potential bubble in the housing markets.

NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun said,

“Contract signings rebounded in most areas in February, but the gains were not large enough to keep up with last February’s level, which was the second highest in over a decade.”

He added that

“The expanding economy and healthy job market are generating sizable home-buyer demand, but the minuscule number of listings on the market and its adverse effect on affordability are squeezing buyers and suppressing overall activity.”

German economic sentiment at an 18-month low

Economic confidence in Germany posted a sharp decline as the index fell to a one and a half year low in March.

The declines came on account of uncertainty due to the U.S. led trade conflicts, official data from ZEW showed.

The ZEW economic sentiment index was seen falling to 5.1 in March compared to 17.8 in February.

The index on current conditions was seen at 90.7 in March which was also lower than February’s reading of 92.3.

The strong current conditions assessments and weak expectations showed that German growth should not be taken for granted. The ZEW President Achim Wambach said

“Concerns over a US-led global trade conflict have made the experts more cautious in their prognoses.”