• France September flash services PMI 43.9 vs 46.0 expected
• Germany September flash manufacturing PMI 39.8 vs 39.5 expected
• Eurozone September flash services PMI 48.4 vs 47.7 expected
• UK September flash services PMI 47.2 vs 49.2 expected
• Euro area PMI takeaways
• BOJ governor Ueda: Will not hesitate to take additional easing measures if necessary
• BOJ’s Ueda: Sustainability of wage hikes the most important thing for inflation outlook
• BOJ’s Ueda: Could consider easy policy exit when achievement of 2% inflation is in sight
• The bond market continues to hog the spotlight
• UK August retail sales +0.4% vs +0.5% m/m expected
• UK September CBI trends total orders -18 vs -18 expected
• Spain Q2 final GDP +0.5% vs +0.4% q/q prelim

Markets:

• NZD leads, JPY lags on the day
• European equities lower; S&P 500 futures up 0.2%
• US 10-year yield flat at 4.482%
• Gold up 0.3% to $1,925.47
• WTI crude up 1.0% to $90.57
• Bitcoin up 0.2% to $26,651

It was a relatively lively session as the euro and pound came under the microscope amid the latest PMI data for September.

The French reading disappointed while the German reading reaffirmed a contraction in Europe’s largest economy during the quarter, though the latter was better than expected on the month. That saw a bit of a fall and rise in the euro, with EUR/USD moving down from 1.0665 to 1.0615 before holding around 1.0640-50 currently.

The pound found little comfort from the poor PMI readings, with the BOE already having seen the numbers before choosing to pause yesterday. GBP/USD was already slightly softer on the day before extending a drop from 1.2260 to 1.2235 before keeping around 1.2250 levels now.

The dollar continues to keep in a solid spot, sitting more mixed on the day as it is only lower against the commodity currenies.

The yen was also a feature as BOJ governor Ueda ran back on his remarks on a „quiet exit“ from two weekends ago, and that is seeing further pressure on the currency today. USD/JPY is up 0.5% to 148.25 as higher yields continue to keep the pressure on the yen as well.

In the bond market, the selling is hitting a bit of a pause after the poor PMI data today but nothing too significant. 10-year yields in the US dropped off to around 4.46% but are now back up to 4.48% and that continues to keep equities on edge. European stocks are lower today after the heavy selling in Wall Street yesterday but US futures are at least a little higher but still have to navigate through the US session later.

There will be US PMI also to watch out for and any surprises there could keep things rather interesting towards the end of the week. In that lieu, a downside miss will be of more impact than any upside beat I would say.

This article was written by Justin Low at www.forexlive.com.