The US dollar was strongly bearish against all its counterparts on Wednesday. On the economic data front, the MBA mortgage applications index fell 2.6% in week ended Jan. 29 after rising 8.8% in prior week. The ADP national employment in the US shows 205K new workers in January (from 267K workers in December) as the labor market continued to power past a growth slowdown and financial-market volatility. In other news, the US PMI activity fell to 53.2 in January, down from 53.7 in December. Finally, the ISM non-manufacturing index fell last month to 53.5, the lowest since February 2014, from 55.8 in December.
The Euro was bullish with its major counterparts on Wednesday with the exceptions of NZD and JPY. In Europe, euro zone PMI services index was 53.6 in January in final estimation, as in prior one, vs 54.2 in December. Separately, retail sales were up by 0.3% in December, as expected, after being flat the month before (revised from -0.3%). UK PMI services index was slightly up to 55.6 in January from 55.5 in December. It was anticipated to be 55.4.
Expecting further weakness in the USD going into fridays trading session.
The Euro was bullish with its major counterparts on Wednesday with the exceptions of NZD and JPY. In Europe, euro zone PMI services index was 53.6 in January in final estimation, as in prior one, vs 54.2 in December. Separately, retail sales were up by 0.3% in December, as expected, after being flat the month before (revised from -0.3%). UK PMI services index was slightly up to 55.6 in January from 55.5 in December. It was anticipated to be 55.4.
Expecting further weakness in the USD going into fridays trading session.
