EUR/USD: Euro Steady, PMIs Meet Expectations

 | Nov 23, 2015 07:52AM ET

EUR/USD is showing limited movement on Monday, as the pair trades at 1.0630 in the European session. In economic news, it’s a busy start to the week, as Eurozone Service and Manufacturing PMIs pointed to expansion. In the US, we’ll get a look at Manufacturing PMI and Housing Starts. On Tuesday, the US releases Preliminary GDP and CB Consumer Confidence.

The new trading week kicked off on a positive note, as Eurozone PMIs were upbeat. Analysts were keeping a close look at German and French Manufacturing PMIs, which are key events. Both indicators were both slightly above the forecast, with German Manufacturing PMI coming in at 52.6 points, and the French indicator at 50.8 points. All of the Services and Manufacturing PMIs in November were above the 50-point level, which separates contraction from expansion. This points to expansion in the manufacturing and services sectors, which is welcome news, as the Eurozone economy has been hampered by weak growth.

Eurozone inflation levels remain anemic, and this was underscored on Friday, as Germany released PPI for October. The manufacturing inflation index came in at -0.4%, missing the estimate of -0.2%. The struggling indicator posted its fourth decline in five months, and has not posted a gain above 0.1% in all of 2015. The ECB remains very concerned about deflation, as indicated in the minutes of its recent November policy meeting. The central bank has revised downwards its inflation outlook, and the markets are keeping a close eye on the next policy meeting on December 3. This could be a critical meeting, as the ECB could elect to cut rates or expand the current asset-purchasing program in order to combat deflation and try to breathe some life into the sluggish economy. Any of these steps will likely weigh on the struggling euro, which is trading at 7-month lows against a strong US dollar.

EUR/USD Fundamentals

Monday (Nov. 23)

  • 8:00 French Flash Manufacturing PMI. Estimate 50.7 points. Actual 50.8 points
  • 8:00 French Flash Services PMI. Estimate 52.1 points. Actual 51.3 points
  • 8:30 German Flash Manufacturing PMI. Estimate 52.6 points. Actual 52.2 points
  • 8:30 German Flash Services PMI. Estimate 55.6 points. Actual 54.3 points
  • 9:00 Eurozone Flash Manufacturing PMI. Estimate 52.8 points. Actual 52.3 points
  • 9:00 Eurozone Flash Services PMI. Estimate 54.6 points. Actual 54.2 points
  • All Day – Eurogroup Meeetings
  • 14:45 US Flash Manufacturing PMI. Estimate 54.0 points
  • 15:00 US Existing Home Sales. Estimate 5.39M

Upcoming Key Events

Tuesday (Nov. 24)

  • 13:30 US Preliminary GDP. Estimate 2.0%
  • 15:00 US CB Consumer Confidence. Estimate 99.3 points
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*Key releases are highlighted in bold

*All release times are GMT

EUR/USD for Monday, November 23, 2015