The U.S. dollar is slightly on the back foot to start the week but still remains near a seven-week high.
Overview
Commodity-based currencies led the charge, trading stronger following a report that showed strong manufacturing and service PMI in China. Oil rose over 2.0%.
Markit manufacturing PMI is slated to cross the wire at 9:45. ISM manufacturing and construction are due out at 10 a.m. The U.S. manufacturing sector has been in a recession for the bulk of the year.
Bloomberg reports that Black Friday broke records and today’s Cyber Monday sales are expected to increase 19% over last year. Happy deal hunting!
What to Watch Today…
- ISM and Markit Manufacturing
Complete Economic Calendar can be found here.
EUR
EUR/USD has experienced a little volatility in early trading, whipsawing 40 points in two hours. You would be forgiven if you didn’t notice because the pair remains in fairly familiar ranges. Euro-zone factory activity rose to a three-month high in November. The 46.9 print beat previous estimates of 46.6 but remains in a contractionary state. A country breakdown shows that Italy beat forecast and the readings for France and Germany also showed improvement.
GBP
The British pound was unmoved by good data as all attention remains locked on the December 12th election. Markit’s final manufacturing PMI improved to 48.9 from 48.3. Polls continue to show that the Conservative party lead is shrinking ten days ahead of the election. A conservative win would likely see the U.K. orderly leave the E.U with a deal very similar to the one brought by Prime Minister Johnson. A Labour party win would call Brexit into question altogether and likely weaken the sterling, at least in the short-term.
