German Chancellor out with comments amid SPD deliberations 17 Jan

Ahead of this Sunday's SPD congress where they will decide on whether or not to continue with full-blown coalition deal Merkel also says:

  • I hope the SPD make responsible decision

Plenty of chatter and euro action this week based on the SPD's deliberations and we can expect further speculation as Sunday approaches.

The 600 delegates and 45 presidium members vote at Sunday's congress in Bonn. 32 of the presidium members have already voted in favour of talks, 6 against.

The North Rhine-Westphalia branch will carry the greatest weight at the congress, contributing 144 of the 600 delegates and last night suggested they will vote in favour. They are followed by Lower Saxony, contributing 81 delegates but that's not the end of it as there will then be a postal vote. Assuming talks go ahead and produce a final coalition agreement, Schulz has pledged to ask the SPD's 443,000 members in a postal ballot if they back a renewed coalition.

EURUSD currently 1.2202 after another look below 1.2200 but EURGBP holding 0.8850 helping to find dip buyers again.