020 7898 0500It was a mixed start to the week for the euro on Monday. The day began positively, but disappointing German service sector data weighed heavily on the single currency – before French service data impressed; Germany’s services purchasing managers’ index (PMI) decreased slightly to 54.1 in September from 54.3 the month before, while France’s services PMI ticked up to 51.9 from 51.2. The height of strength for the euro came at 10am, when retail sales managed to remain flat after it was forecast to fall to a negative figure. Throughout the afternoon the single currency weakened – ending the day close to where it had started against its major peers.
Earlier this morning, German manufacturing orders were released; these were forecast to fall sharply from last month from 0.7% to 0.2%. These figures are usually key measuring the strength of Europe’s number one economy. This is the only data released for the multi-national currency today, so we can expect a quieter rest of the day and for investors to be keeping an eye on other world markets.
