A Busy Economic Calendar Put the EUR, the Loonie, and the Greenback in Focus

Earlier in the Day:

It’s was a relatively busy start to the day on the economic calendar this morning. The Japanese Yen and Aussie Dollar was in action early on, with economic data from China also in focus.

For the Japanese Yen

August’s finalized services PMI came in at 45.0, which was in line with prelim, while down from July’s 45.4.

According to the August survey,

• Activity fell back further in August, with restrictions on activity and a lack of customers weighing.
• New orders decreased again in August, delivering a 7^th consecutive monthly decline. The pace of decline was also more marked than in July, with new export orders seeing a material fall.
• Firms continued to scale back employment in line with reduced workloads. Staffing levels were down for a 6^th consecutive month.
• Business sentiment remained subdued. Confidence was slightly lower than in July.

The Japanese Yen moved from ¥106.241 to ¥106.212 upon release of the PMI. At the time of writing, the Japanese Yen was down by 0.06% ¥106.24 against the U.S Dollar

For the Aussie Dollar

July trade figures were in focus. The trade surplus narrowed from A$8.202bn to A$4.607bn in July. Economists had forecast a narrowing to A$5.400bn.

According to the ABS,

• Goods and services credits fell A$1,604m (4%) to A$34,496m.
  • Non-rural goods fell A$1,527m (6%).
  • Rural goods fell A$539m (15%).
  • Net exports of goods under merchanting fell A$18m (38%).
  • Non-monetary gold rose A$1,252m (53%).
  • Services fell A$772m (12%).
• Goods and services debits rose A$1,939m (7%) to A$29,890m.
  • Capital goods rose A$999m (18%).
  • Consumption goods rose A$608m (7%).
  • Non-monetary gold rose A$300m (37%).
  • Intermediate and other merchandise goods rose A$165m (2%).
  • Services fell A$133m (3%).

The Aussie Dollar moved from $0.73146 to $0.73173 upon release of the figures. At the time of writing, the Aussie Dollar was down by 0.22% to $0.7322.

From China

The Caixin Services PMI slipped from 54.1 to 54.0 in August.

According to the August survey,

• Service sector activity continued to recovery in August.
• New order growth remained marked in spite of an easing from June’s recent record.
• Higher sales were largely driven by firmer domestic demand, as new export work fell for the 2^nd month in a row.
• Increased activity and sales led firms to expand their workforces for the 1^st time in 7-months.
• Optimism dipped to a 3-month low in August in spite of firms expecting business activity to be higher in 12-months’ time.

The Aussie Dollar moved from $0.73173 to $0.73255 upon release of the figures.

Elsewhere

At the time of writing, the Kiwi Dollar was down by 0.04% to $0.6769.

The Day Ahead:

For the EUR

It’s a busy day ahead on the economic calendar. Key stats include the August service sector and composite PMIs for Italy and Spain and Eurozone retail sales figures for July.

The finalized service sector and composite PMIs are also due out of France, Germany, and the Eurozone.

Barring a material deviation from prelims, expect Italy and the Eurozone’s PMIs to have the greatest impact on the day.

At the time of writing, the EUR was down by 0.14% to $1.1839.

For the Pound

It’s a relatively quiet day ahead on the economic calendar. August’s finalized service and composite PMI numbers for August are due out.

Expect any revisions to influence the Pound in the early part of the day.

Away from the economic calendar, any Brexit and monetary policy chatter will also need monitoring.

BoE Gov. Bailey is scheduled to speak later today.

At the time of writing, the Pound was down by 0.07% to $1.3340.

Across the Pond

It’s a busy day ahead in a busy week for the U.S Dollar. Key stats include the weekly jobless claims and the market’s preferred ISM Non-Manufacturing PMI numbers.

Finalized Markit service PMI, trade and unit labor costs, and nonfarm productivity numbers are also due out. We would expect these stats to have a muted impact on market risk sentiment and the Dollar, however.

Away from the economic calendar, any chatter from Washington will also need monitoring.

The Dollar Spot Index was down by 0.04% to 92.806 at the time of writing.

For the Loonie

It’s a relatively quiet day ahead on the economic data front. July trade figures are due out later today.

After a quiet week on the economic data front, expect some Loonie sensitivity to the numbers.

From elsewhere, PMI numbers from China, the Eurozone, and the U.S will also influence on the day.

At the time of writing, the Loonie was up by 0.22% to C$1.3054 against the U.S Dollar.

For a look at all of today’s economic events, check out our economic calendar.