24 Oct 2013
EUR/USD grinds upwards on dollar pessimism
FXstreet.com (London) - EUR/USD continues to grind upwards despite disappointing Eurozone PMI figures published this morning.
The pair climbed to a high of USD1.3825 in expectation of solid numbers, but soft composite EMU PMI numbers as well as a miss for France and Germany knocked the pair down to USD1.3765.
The numbers published by Markit this morning showed the Eurozone composite index fell to 51.5 from 52.2, below consensus expectations of 52.2.
The disappointing figures deflated any premature expectations of significant Eurozone economic recovery.
Despite any disappointing Eurozone data, the biggest driver of the pair is dollar weakness.
Initial jobless claims fell less than expected for the week ended 19 October, down to 350,000 from an upward-revised 362,000 the previous week. But as has been the case for the last month, computer difficulties may have skewed the numbers, with California yet to clear the backlog of claims following computer system upgrades a month ago.
The dollar continues to be sandbagged thank to expectations of any tapering of the Federal Reserve’s USD85bn-a-month asset purchase programme being pushed well into next year. Disappointing non-farm payroll numbers released on Tuesday helped to confirm predictions that any trimming of asset purchases by the central bank will not come until after its March meeting.
EUR/USD is currently at USD1.3804 on choppy trading.
The pair climbed to a high of USD1.3825 in expectation of solid numbers, but soft composite EMU PMI numbers as well as a miss for France and Germany knocked the pair down to USD1.3765.
The numbers published by Markit this morning showed the Eurozone composite index fell to 51.5 from 52.2, below consensus expectations of 52.2.
The disappointing figures deflated any premature expectations of significant Eurozone economic recovery.
Despite any disappointing Eurozone data, the biggest driver of the pair is dollar weakness.
Initial jobless claims fell less than expected for the week ended 19 October, down to 350,000 from an upward-revised 362,000 the previous week. But as has been the case for the last month, computer difficulties may have skewed the numbers, with California yet to clear the backlog of claims following computer system upgrades a month ago.
The dollar continues to be sandbagged thank to expectations of any tapering of the Federal Reserve’s USD85bn-a-month asset purchase programme being pushed well into next year. Disappointing non-farm payroll numbers released on Tuesday helped to confirm predictions that any trimming of asset purchases by the central bank will not come until after its March meeting.
EUR/USD is currently at USD1.3804 on choppy trading.