Eurozone PMIs Exceed Expectations

AUD

The Aussie dollar opens relatively flat this morning while Asian equities closed mixed with the ASX -0.6%, Shanghai Comp +0.6% and Nikkei +0.3%. Commodities were also mixed with Crude Oil -1%, Natural Gas +6%, Gold flat, Silver -0.1%, Iron Ore -0.5% and Copper +0.3%. A quiet day for local data yesterday, having only seen the release of the Aussie Flash Manufacturing and Services PMI’s, both dropping slightly lower than the previous readings of 48.2 and 47.9 to 47.7 and 46.3 respectively. No more data to be released this week out of Australia and China. Next Tuesday, we'll see domestic Retail Sales data which will be in the RBA's spotlight given Governor Bullock's recent commentary surrounding consumer demand-driven price pressures.

USD

After seeing highs of 0.6574 overnight, the AUDUSD pair dropped off slightly but still opening higher this morning at 0.6557. The Thanksgiving Day holiday in the U.S. saw equity and bond markets closed and weighed on FX liquidity through the session. Tonight, we'll see the belayed release of the US Flash Manufacturing and Services PMI’s, both expected to drop marginally.

EUR

The AUDEUR pair opens flat this morning at 0.6013 after trading yesterday’s session within a 20-pip range. European equities didn’t see much movement either with the DAX and CAC both closing 0.2% higher. A busier night for European data as we saw the release of French, German and the Eurozone’s Flash Manufacturing and Services PMI’s. French Manufacturing dropped slightly from expectations of 43.2 to 42.6, whilst Services remained somewhat flat at 45.3. German Manufacturing rose to 42.3 beating both previous readings od 40.8 and expectations of 41.1, Services also remained flat at 48.7. The Eurozone’s Manufacturing rose slightly from 43.1 to 43.8 beating expectations of 48, Services again remained somewhat flat at 48.2. Tonight, we will see a few minor releases for the Germans in the form of German Final GDP q/q and German ifo Business Climate.

GBP

Despite seeing a 30 pip drop around the time of the UK PMI release, the AUDGBP pair managed to retrace to open flat this morning at 0.5234. British Equities closed slightly higher with the FTSE +0.2%. Yesterday we saw the UK November Services PMI rise to 50.5, beating forecasts of 49.5. Manufacturing PMI came in at 46.7, also above estimates of 45 and previous reading of 44.8. A quiet Friday ahead, only seeing the release of the GfK Consumer Confidence index.
NZD

The AUDNZD opens lower this morning at 1.0835. No data out for the Kiwi’s yesterday, however this morning we saw the release of Retail Sales q/q, which printed flat, better than the expected -0.8% fall. Core Retail Sales q/q also came in better than expected, rising from -1.5% to +1%. No more data for the kiwi’s this week.