North American Summary and Highlights 15 Dec

Overview
EUR slipped on weak PMI data while the USD got support from Fed comments.
North American session
The USD gained ground through the North American session, boosted by the comments from the Fed’s Williams, who suggested that the market had overreacted to the FOMC. Fed’s Bostic was also cautious about easing, though Goolsbee sounded more dovish. EUR/USD lost over half a figure to touch below 1.09, while USD/JPY made more modest gains above 142.
However, US data was generally weak. The Empire manufacturing index fell sharply into negative territory, and both industrial production and manufacturing PMI suggested softness, but the services PMI was better than expected.
BoC governor Macklem said 2% inflation was in sight, but said it was too early to cut rates and the CAD outperformed, with USD/CAD dropping modestly to 1.3370.
European morning session
The EUR fell back across the board through the European morning, following weaker than expected Eurozone PMIs. EUR/USD fell from 1.10 to 1.0950 before bouncing modestly. EUR/GBP also fell from 0.8610 to 0.8580 as UK composite PMI came in stronger for the second consecutive month. GBP/USD was slightly higher on the day at 1.2780. Otherwise, the USD was slightly softer, with USD/JPY falling to 141.70. The EUR also lost ground against the scandis, with EUR/NOK down 9 figures to 11.45 and EUR/SEK losing 7 figures to 11.20.
The Eurozone composite PMI fell to 47.0 in December, reversing half the November recovery, while the UK composite PMI rose to 51.7, its highest since July.