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How do the economic reports impact the currencies?

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We can see on Friday the USD strengthening abroad the markets, being boosted by the release of US employment data, manufacturing activity, and the consumers’ sentiment index. The USD/JPY pair lost 0.17% for the whole Friday session, but looking closely we can see that it came back from the 111.80 low to close at 112.38. The ISM (Institute for Supply Management) published a manufacturing PMI (Purchasing Managers Index) of 51.8 for the month of March, up from February’s 49.5 and also over the expected 50.7 value.

The University of Michigan said that the consumer sentiment index calculated through their method posted 91.1 in March, with a February reading of 90.0 and a forecasted value of 90.5. The previously mentioned reports came out just after the Labor Department of the US released its official report according to which the economy added 215K jobs in March surpassing the expected 205K addition. February had a new job increase of 245K, the figure being now revised to 242K. The US unemployment rate reached up to 5.0% from February’s 4.9%, analysts

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The previously mentioned reports came out just after the Labor Department of the US released its official report according to which the economy added 215K jobs in March surpassing the expected 205K addition. February had a new job increase of 245K, the figure being now revised to 242K. The US unemployment rate reached up to 5.0% from February’s 4.9%, analysts not expecting this change. The same report shows the average hourly gains going up by 0.3% last month, moving past the expected 0.2% after a 0.1% setback in the month of February.

In China, separate reports show that sentiment has improved in the light of new data regarding the manufacturing activity. Fresh figures are showing an increase in the Chinese manufacturing sector, the first time since 2015’s August. China’s official manufacturing PMI went up to 50.2 in the month of March, from a February reading of 49.0 and over the expected 49.3. For what regards the Caixin manufacturing index, data shows also a pick-up to the 49.7 handle in March, from previous 48.0 in February.

The EUR/USD major closed the Friday session 0.15% lower at 1.1363, coming down from session highs around the 1.1437 handle. The Markit research group released on Friday the latest Eurozone Manufacturing PMI, which showed an expansion in the sector, printing 51.6 for the month of March from the previous 51.6 in February. Analysts forecasted an unchanged reading, the data surprising markets to the upside. Germany’s manufacturing PMI climbed up to 50.7 from previous 50.4, while France’s manufacturing PMI remained flat at 49.6.

In the GBP/USD trend we can see that the American dollar came in strong, pushing the major down 1.19% at 1.4190. For what regards the sterling, the currency weakened after the UK manufacturing PMI came out at 51.0 (previously 50.8), under the expected 51.2.

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