EUR outperformance as spot takes out 1.1500. USD soft all round, but JPY, AUD and CAD gains tempered near term. Cable holds off 1.4700 - just.
No China or UK today, so relatively quiet markets though some noteworthy levels achieved in some of the key FX rates today. Ahead of the North American session, we saw the bid tone in the EUR pushing for new highs through 1.1470, but it took NY players to add fresh momentum for the push to 1.1500. Later in the day, and just ahead of the ISM manufacturing release, we saw a fresh rip through the (1.1500) figure level, with the single unit well placed for fresh upside. Alongside this we saw a cable test of 1.4700, which has held off by a few ticks for now, but the heavy USD tone shows little sign of abating with the above US data softer in the headline, though the employment index did improve. The equivalent final EU PMI read was a touch better than expected, but notable weakness seen in the French stats, well below the 50.0 pivot. Even so, combined with the healthy GDP data last week, EUR outperformance looks on the cards going forward. Canadian PMIs improved from 51.5 to 52.2 but to little effect on USD/CAD, as the support at 1.2500 is proving resilient to the last as oil prices stabilise off the highs from last week. AUD/USD pushed up into the mid .7600s, but with some looking for a potential RBA cut overnight, some moderation seen here later in the day. A quiet one for USD/JPY after overnight markets held off 106.00. Japan off for the next few days, but London back on Tuesday.