This week was filled with PMI reports which gave some key insights about how different economies are performing. This directly influences the currency of the country and forex traders need to always pay close attention to key economic reports. The forex market saw volatile moves this week and while different factors have impacted currency pairs in a different way, the PMI reports did play a role in it as well.
Monday started out not with a PMI report, but with the second best thing in the US; the Chicago Fed National Activity Index. Economists expected this report to show an increase of 0.16 and were utterly disappointed. Not only was the previous month revised lower to -0.19, but the May Chicago Fed National Activity Index was reported at -0.17. This was one of the biggest negative surprises of 2015 and suggested that the US is in much worse economic shape than feared.
Tuesday saw the release of three key PMI reports out of China, Japan and the Eurozone. Japan, as its ugly stepsister the US, delivered a blow to expectations. The Markit/JMMA Manufacturing PMI was reported at 49.9 which means it contracted. Economists expected a slowdown to a level of 50.5 from May’s 50.9. Economists expected a contraction in the Chinese Manufacturing PMI for June with a level of 49.4, slightly above the 49.2 reported in May, and received a slightly better level of 49.6.
The bright spot in this week’s PMI reports was the Eurozone which despite all the worries has performed much better than expected and this has been reflected in the Euro. Economists expected the Eurozone Composite PMI to fall to 53.5 in June from 53.6 in May, the Eurozone Manufacturing PMI to show no change from the 52.2 reported in May and the Eurozone Services PMI to decrease to 53.6 in June from the 53.8 in May.
The released report showed that the Eurozone Composite PMI rose to 54.1, the Eurozone Manufacturing PMI rose to 52.5 and the Eurozone Services PMI rose to 54.4. The US finished this week’s PMI round with another disappointment as the Markit Manufacturing PMI dropped to 53.4 in June. Economists expected an increase to 54.1 from the 54.0 reported in May. Forex traders should expect a similar disappointment today from the US Services PMI as well as US Composite PMI.
