Europe Summary and Highlights 21 August
European currencies were generally slightly firmer through the European morning, helped by better than expected PMIs.
European morning session
European currencies were generally slightly firmer through the European morning, helped by better than expected PMIs. The Eurozone composite PMI rose to 51.1 in August from 50.9 in July, while the UK composite PMI rose to 53.0 in August from 51.5 in July. EUR/USD gained around 10 pips net to 1.1665, after an initial dip in early European trade, while GBP/USD rose 20 pips to 1.3470.
The best performer on the morning was the NOK, which benefited from a stronger than expected mainland Q2 GDP rise of 0.6%, following a 1.2% gain in Q1. EUR/NOK fell 5 figures to 11.87.
USD/JPY was higher on the session despite equities slipping a little lower, helped by slightly higher yields in Europe, gaining 25 pips to 1.4765.
Asia session
The broader risk mood is upbeat on Thursday. Both the U.S. three major and regional equity indexes are all in the green, except Nikkei and HSI that drifted into the red as session progress. With USD solid, major currencies are trading mostly lower. AUD/USD is down 0.21% to 0.6420, NZD/USD is also 0.13% lower at 0.5815 while USD/CAD rises 0.05%.
It is relatively quiet Thursday as market participants are keeping their focus for Jackson Hole. USD/JPY is trading 0.06% higher at 147.33 as we see little movement in both the U.S. Treasury and KGB yields. Else, EUR/USD is down 0.06% and GBP/USD is down 0.03%.