The euro today fell amid conflicting trade headlines as investors continued to wonder whether the US and China would seal a phase one deal any time soon. However, the EUR/USD currency pair rallied higher in the early American session after the latest US jobs data released by the ADP missed expectations by a wide margin.
The Japanese yen was flat against most of its major rivals amid conflicting reports about the probability of reaching a phase-one trade deal between the United States and China before the new US tariffs, scheduled to take effect on December 15, will kick in. Domestic macroeconomic data was relatively good but slightly worse than expected.
The Australian dollar was weak today due to uncertainty surrounding the US-China trade deal as well as the slower-than-expected economic growth in Australia. Losses were limited, though, thanks to the positive report from China, Australia’s biggest trading partner.
The Great Britain pound was the worst-performing major currency today, falling against all other most-traded rivals. The currency was heading to the biggest weekly loss in almost three weeks. The reason for the poor performance were extremely poor PMI figures, which made economists speculate that Britain’s economy will face a contraction in the fourth quarter of this year.
The euro today fell against the much stronger US dollar as investors reacted to mostly negative IHS Markit preliminary services PMI reports from across the eurozone. The EUR/USD currency pair today attempted to rally higher on positive French and German manufacturing PMIs, but the rally was short-lived due to the weak services PMIs.
The Japanese yen was generally strong today amid persisting concerns about the US-China trade negotiations. Macroeconomic data released in Japan over Friday’s session was in line with expectations.
The Australian dollar attempted to rally today, ignoring negative domestic macroeconomic data. But the currency was unable to keep gains, falling against the majority of its most-traded rivals by now.
The euro fell against the US dollar in the American session following a spike higher shortly after the announcement of the European Central Bank‘s rate decision. The EUR/USD currency pair rallied to its daily highs in the early European session on mixed IHS Markit flash PMI releases from the euro area but later fell.
The Japanese yen was little changed following a report that showed that economic activity in Japan slowed this month. The services sector barely expanded as its rate of growth slowed sharply compared with September, while the manufacturing sector accelerated the rate of its decline unexpectedly.
The Australian dollar declined against its most-traded rivals today after flash data showed that economic activity slowed significantly last month. While both the manufacturing and the services sectors continued to expand, the pace of expansion was slower than in the preceding month.
