There were several PMI Manufacturing indexes released today for the Eurozone, Germany and the UK.
German PMI Manufacturing was released first at 8:55 GMT, dropped to 60.9 in March versus 62.9 but in line with expectations. The report released by Markit economics is an indication of the overall health of the German economy. Any drop in statistics will affect the Euro as Germany is the largest and strongest economy in the European Union. At the time of the release of the data at 08:55 GMT, the EURUSD was trading at 1.4149 and continued to rise until the release of the Eurozone PMI a few minutes later.
At 09:00GMT, the Eurozone PMI came out above the 50 benchmark level which usually indicates a good indication of economic expansion. The data for March reported at 57.5 which was in line with expectations and unchanged from prior month. After release of the news, EURUSD only gained under 20 pips but has been rallying in a range since then as it battles the US Dollar which is gaining strength especially on anticipation of US Non Farm Payroll data in the afternoon. EURUSD is currently trading down at 1.4149 at time of writing.
UK PMI Manufacturing Index is down to 57.1 in March compared to 61.5, while the expectations were for 60.9. The Manufacturing PMI is released by the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply in combination with Markit Economics, and it is a good indication of business conditions in the UK. As the reading was negative, the Sterling fell against the Dollar as well as the euro. After release of the news at 9:30 GMT, GBPUSD plummeted almost 20 pips to bottom at 1.6007 but soon rebounded and is currently trading at 1.6065.
