Private Sector PMIs Provide some EUR Comfort

It was a busy economic calendar this morning. Manufacturing PMI figures for Italy and Spain were in focus. Finalized manufacturing PMIs for France, Germany, and the Eurozone also drew interest, however.

Member State Manufacturing PMIs

Spain’s Manufacturing PMI fell from 57.1 to 56.2 in December, which was in line with forecasts.

In December, Italy’s Manufacturing PMI declined from 62.8 to 62.0. Economists had forecast for the PMI to fall to 61.5.

According to finalized figures:

France’s Manufacturing PMI slipped from 55.9 to 55.6, which was up from a prelim 54.9.

In November, Germany’s Manufacturing PMI held steady at 57.4, which was down from a prelim 57.9.

The Eurozone

According to finalized figures, the Eurozone’s Manufacturing PMI fell from 58.4 to a 10-month low 58.0 in December, which was in line with prelim.

According to the December survey,

• Average lead times lengthened to the softest extent since February.
• As a result of easing supply chain issues, firms added purchases to their inventories at the fastest pace ever recorded.
• In spite of this, output growth remained unchanged.
• Input cost and output price inflation eased, though remained among the fastest ever seen by the survey.
• New manufacturing orders increased at the joint-weakest rate since January as a result of weaker overseas demand.
• Rising outstanding work led to a pickup in the pace of hiring.

By Country,

• Italy ranked 1^st, with a 2-month low PMI of 62.0, followed by Greece (59.0).
• France sat at the bottom of the table with a 2-month low PMI of 55.6.
• Spain’s PMI fell to a 10-month low 56.2 to sit just above France.

Market Impact

Ahead of today’s stats, the EUR had risen to a pre-stat and current day high $1.13787 before falling to a pre-stat and current day low $1.13351.

In response today’s stats, the EUR fell to a post-Spain PMI release low $1.13354 before rising to a post-stat high $1.13493.

At the time of writing, the EUR was down by 0.23% to $1.13491.

Next Up

Finalized Markit Manufacturing PMI numbers from the U.S.