Key Global Foreign Exchange Indicators on October 23
(Continued from Prior Part)
Euro falls below 1.1
The euro-US dollar pair continued to slide. The slide started due to dovish comments by the ECB’s (European Central Bank) chief on October 22, 2015. The pair fell to a low of 1.100 before closing at 1.102. The ECB’s comments towards increasing the QE (quantitative easing) combined with China decreasing the interest rates resulted in an additional fall in the euro-US dollar pair on October 23, 2015. The positive PMI (purchasing managers’ index) from the Eurozone countries also failed to trigger an uptick in the pair.
PMI numbers are strong
Markit released the October PMI numbers for the Eurozone on October 23, 2015. Regarding Germany’s composite PMI, the sluggishness in the manufacturing sector was overcome by strong growth in the services sector. This took the overall PMI to a two-month high of 54.5 with the manufacturing PMI at a five-month low of 51.6 and the services PMI at a seven-month high of 55.2. While the Eurozone PMI came in at a two-month high of 54, the service sector expanded to 54.2.
Impact on the market
Looking at the performance of currency-based ETFs linked to the euro on October 23, the ProShares UltraShort Euro ETF (EUO) ended the day by rising 1.7%. EUO is linked to the euro. In contrast, the Guggenheim Currency Shares Euro ETF (FXE), which has a direct relation to the euro, fell by 0.87%.
Looking at European ADRs (American depositary receipts), Dutch leisure goods producer Koninklijke Philips Electronics (PHG) and Belgium beverage maker Anheuser-Busch Inbev SA (BUD) rose by 1.3% and 1.2%, respectively. Finnish company Nokia Oyj (NOK) fell by 2.7%.
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