North American Summary and Highlights 5 Nov
Overview - The USD made modest gains in Europe and US data was stronger than expected, which lifted USD/JPY and risk appetite.
North American session
Some stronger than expected US data was released for October, firstly a 42k increase in the ADP employment report and secondly an ISM services index of 52.4, up from 50.0 in September. This lifted USD/JPY, with the latter release bringing a rise above 154, if not by very far. EUR/USD dipped on both data releases but ended little changed near 1.1490
Elsewhere the market focused more on risk-on trading. EUR/GBP slipped to near .880 while EUR/CHF remained firm near .9310. AUD/USD edged above .65 while USD/CAD reversed its European gains, slipping back to 1.4110. Canada also released some stronger data, its S and P services PMI bouncing above neutral to 50.5 in October from 46.5 in September.
The US Supreme Court held hearings on the challenge to Trump’s tariffs, and some conservative justices sounded sceptical on their legality.
European morning session
The USD made some very modest gains through the European morning, edging less than 0.1% higher against most currencies. GBP held its own against the USD, while the CAD saw the most pronounced weakness, with USD/CAD rising 25 pips to 1.4135.
European data was on the strong side of consensus. German manufacturing orders rose 1.1% in September against a consensus of 0.9%, and services PMIs were generally revised higher, with the Eurozone composite PMI consequently revised to 52.5 from 52.2, while the UK composite PMI was revised to 52.2 from 52.1. Even so, there was little noticeable impact from the data. Equities and bonds were also not much changed.