London — Strong German economic growth data drove the euro to a three-week high on Tuesday and gave European stocks a lift after five days of falls put them at a two-month low. The uplift to sentiment came after disappointing Chinese industrial and retail figures had subdued Asia, with investors also pondering whether a marked flattening in the US yield curve might be a harbinger of a more global slowdown. There was no sign of that in German where a 0.8% third-quarter growth reading beat forecasts and showed the economy growing at annualised rates of more than 3%. The euro jumped to $1.1696 versus the dollar on the figures and reached a one-year top against Sweden’s krona after inflation figures there came in weaker than expected. "It is not the dollar that is weak, it is the euro that is strong," said John Hardy, Saxo Bank’s head of forex strategy. Combined with signs of a move up again in European bond yields, that suggested some traders were back to pricing in an end to the Europ...
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