North American Summary and Highlights 21 June
Overview - EUR weakened on European PMI data while the USD was lifted by US PMI data, though the USD gains on the US data were seen largely versus the JPY.
North American session
The USD bounced after June S and P PMI data came in stronger than expected, extending May’s gains to see manufacturing at 51.7 from 51.3 and services at 55.1 from 55.8, the latter the strongest since April 2022. However for most pairs the USD gains were modest and not sustained, stabilizing near pre-US data levels, with EUR/USD holding below 1.07. However USD/JPY extended gains above 159.50 from pre-data levels below 159.
USD/CHF also sustained a modest bounce, as EUR/CHF continued to reverse European losses, moving above .9560 after seeing lows below .9510.
European morning session
The EUR fell back through the European morning after weaker than expected June PMIs. Both manufacturing and services were weaker than expected, and the composite PMI fell to 50.8, reversing most of the gains seen in May. EUR/USD slipped below 1.07 to a low of 1.0671 in response. UK PMIs were also weaker than expected, although the manufacturing index held up a little better than in the Eurozone. GBP gained some ground against the EUR, with EUR/GBP falling back around 20 pips to a low of 0.8442 before bouncing to 0.8450. GBP also benefited from stronger than expected May retail sales, which rose 2.9% m/m, more than reversing the 1.8% April decline.
The USD was generally firmer on the back of the softer European data, with AUD/USD dipping around 15 pips to 0.6650 and USD/CAD rising 15 pips to 1.3695. USD/JPY was not much changed near 158.90 after seeing a dip after the European PMIs to 158.70. EUR/NOK continued Thursday’s decline, dropping another 2 figures to 11.27.