The Daily Prophet: Euro's Rally Enters the Realm of Relentless

Can anything stop the euro? That's a serious question. Europe's shared currency briefly rose through $1.19 on Wednesday for the first time since the start of 2015 and rising from as low as $1.0570 in April when the rally started. The gains have been broad-based, as evidenced by the Bloomberg Euro Index rising 8.74 percent this year, putting it on track to reverse a string of three straight annual declines.

To understand how surprising the rally has been consider that at the start of 2017, none of the 100 or so firms surveyed by Bloomberg expected the currency to be trading above $1.18 at this point in the year. Now, eight expect it to reach $1.20 or higher by year-end. Although much of the euro's strength is a function of the dollar's weakness, there's no denying that the euro zone economy is gathering pace. Eurostat data Tuesday showed the economy expanded 2.1 percent in the second quarter from a year earlier, the fastest pace since 2011. To be sure, a stronger euro could start to bite into the profits of European exporters, and there are signs that analysts are starting to temper their earnings estimates as a result.