European Session – Euro weak after disappointing PMIs
February 20, 2014 2:41 pm
Preliminary Eurozone PMI data were disappointing today and hurt sentiment for the euro. According to flash estimates released by Markit Economics, both of France’s services and manufacturing PMI numbers remained in contraction territory (below 50) this month. Germany – Europe’s engine of growth – experienced a bigger slowdown than expected in its manufacturing sector this month. Growth in the Eurozone’s overall manufacturing and services sectors came in largely flat this month.
The European data follows China PMI data which were released earlier today and raised concerns for deterioration in the manufacturing sector of the world’s second largest economy. The February HSBC flash PMI reached a 7-month low.
The euro came under pressure following the European PMIs, falling to a session low of $1.3685 from an early European session high of $1.3753. EURGBP slipped from 0.8216 to 0.8244.
However, the euro was able to recover some losses after relatively positive economic data out of the United States on CPI and jobless claims. Both the headline & core January CPI numbers were in line with forecasts at 0.1% month-on-month and 1.6% year-on-year for both measures, while initial jobless claims eased 3,000 to 336,000 for last week.
The euro ended the European session down 0.27% against the dollar at 1.3713, while against the yen, it was up 0.06% to 140.17. The dollar gained 0.33% versus the yen to end at 102.23 after being boosted by the US data.
Preliminary Eurozone PMI data were disappointing today and hurt sentiment for the euro. According to flash estimates released by Markit Economics, both of France’s services and manufacturing PMI numbers remained in contraction territory (below 50) this month. Germany – Europe’s engine of growth – experienced a bigger slowdown than expected in its manufacturing sector this month. Growth in the Eurozone’s overall manufacturing and services sectors came in largely flat this month.
The European data follows China PMI data which were released earlier today and raised concerns for deterioration in the manufacturing sector of the world’s second largest economy. The February HSBC flash PMI reached a 7-month low.
The euro came under pressure following the European PMIs, falling to a session low of $1.3685 from an early European session high of $1.3753. EURGBP slipped from 0.8216 to 0.8244.
However, the euro was able to recover some losses after relatively positive economic data out of the United States on CPI and jobless claims. Both the headline & core January CPI numbers were in line with forecasts at 0.1% month-on-month and 1.6% year-on-year for both measures, while initial jobless claims eased 3,000 to 336,000 for last week.
The euro ended the European session down 0.27% against the dollar at 1.3713, while against the yen, it was up 0.06% to 140.17. The dollar gained 0.33% versus the yen to end at 102.23 after being boosted by the US data.
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