Forex Today: Major pairs stabilize ahead of key PMI data
Here is what you need to know on Tuesday, April 23:
Major currency pair fluctuate in relatively tight channels early Tuesday as investors await key data releases. S&P Global will publish preliminary April Manufacturing and Services PMI data for the Eurozone, the UK and the US later in the day. The US economic docket will also feature New Home Sales data for March.
The US Dollar (USD) Index, which tracks the USD's performance against a basket of six major currencies, closed the first day of the week virtually unchanged. Following a mixed opening to the day, Wall Street's main indexes gained traction and registered strong daily gains, making it difficult for the USD to gather strength. The USD Index extends its sideways grind slightly above 106.00 early Tuesday and US stock index futures trade flat. Meanwhile, the benchmark 10-year US Treasury bond yield fluctuates above 4.6% after posting small losses on Monday.
US Dollar price this week
The table below shows the percentage change of US Dollar (USD) against listed major currencies this week. US Dollar was the strongest against the Pound Sterling.
| USD | EUR | GBP | CAD | AUD | JPY | NZD | CHF | |
| USD | 0.08% | 0.25% | -0.27% | -0.38% | 0.07% | -0.22% | 0.20% | |
| EUR | -0.08% | 0.16% | -0.35% | -0.47% | -0.01% | -0.31% | 0.10% | |
| GBP | -0.25% | -0.16% | -0.51% | -0.63% | -0.18% | -0.48% | -0.05% | |
| CAD | 0.25% | 0.35% | 0.51% | -0.12% | 0.32% | 0.03% | 0.43% | |
| AUD | 0.39% | 0.49% | 0.64% | 0.11% | 0.46% | 0.17% | 0.60% | |
| JPY | -0.06% | 0.04% | 0.19% | -0.33% | -0.46% | -0.31% | 0.13% | |
| NZD | 0.22% | 0.32% | 0.46% | -0.05% | -0.15% | 0.28% | 0.42% | |
| CHF | -0.18% | -0.09% | 0.06% | -0.44% | -0.56% | -0.12% | -0.40% |
The heat map shows percentage changes of major currencies against each other. The base currency is picked from the left column, while the quote currency is picked from the top row. For example, if you pick the Euro from the left column and move along the horizontal line to the Japanese Yen, the percentage change displayed in the box will represent EUR (base)/JPY (quote).
The data from Australia showed in the Asian session that the Judo Bank Manufacturing PMI improved to 49.9 in April's flash estimate from 47.3 in March. The Services PMI edged slightly lower to 54.2 from 54.4 in the same period. After closing in positive territory on Monday, AUD/USD showed no reaction to these and entered a consolidation phase at around 0.6450.
Australian Dollar stays calm amid a firmer US Dollar, PMI eyed.
EUR/USD continues to move up and down in a narrow range at around 1.0650 following Monday's indecisive action. HCOB Composite PMI in Germany rose to 50.5 in early April from 47.7 in March.
GBP/USD remained under bearish pressure and touched a multi-month low of 1.2300 before staging a modest rebound in the American session on Monday. The pair was last seen trading slightly below 1.2350.
USD/JPY ended the first trading day of the week virtually unchanged. The pair remains stuck in an extremely tight channel slightly below 155.00 early Tuesday. Japan's Weighted Median Inflation Index, a key measure of the country’s trend inflation, rose at its slowest pace in 11 months to 1.3% in March, the latest data published by the Bank of Japan (BoJ) showed on Tuesday. Commenting on the policy outlook, "our basic stance is that we will look at moves in trend inflation to achieve our price goal, and take a data-dependent approach in setting policy," Bank of Japan (BoJ) Governor Kazuo Ueda said.
Gold staged a deep correction on Monday and registered its biggest one-day loss of the year, falling over 2.5%. XAU/USD stays under persistent bearish pressure early Tuesday and declines toward $2,300.
Economic Indicator
S&P Global Composite PMI
The S&P Global Composite Purchasing Managers Index (PMI), released on a monthly basis, is a leading indicator gauging US private-business activity in the manufacturing and services sector. The data is derived from surveys to senior executives. Each response is weighted according to the size of the company and its contribution to total manufacturing or services output accounted for by the sub-sector to which that company belongs. Survey responses reflect the change, if any, in the current month compared to the previous month and can anticipate changing trends in official data series such as Gross Domestic Product (GDP), industrial production, employment and inflation. The index varies between 0 and 100, with levels of 50.0 signaling no change over the previous month. A reading above 50 indicates that the private economy is generally expanding, a bullish sign for the US Dollar (USD). Meanwhile, a reading below 50 signals that activity is generally declining, which is seen as bearish for USD.
Read more.Last release: Wed Apr 03, 2024 13:45
Frequency: Monthly
Actual: 52.1
Consensus: -
Previous: 52.2
Source: S&P Global