European indices opened with slight gains but have given that all back now as the early optimism fades. US futures have also moved lower and while I want to say that the PMI data today had a helping hand in that, I can only argue that the UK report was poorer than expected. The French and German readings were a mixed bag as noted here.
In any case, stocks in Europe have nudged lower with the DAX down by 0.1% and UK FTSE down by 0.4% currently. Meanwhile, the dollar has steadied itself and is trading little changed against the euro, franc, loonie, aussie and kiwi after slight losses earlier. Of note, the aussie and kiwi have also seen their stronger gains from earlier fade.
AUD/USD is now down 0.1% to 0.7018 while NZD/USD is flat at 0.6483 at the moment.
The pound is the notable laggard on the session with GBP/USD now down 0.4% to 1.2320 with the low touching 1.2310 moments ago. That’s a steep drop from around 1.2380 from before the PMI data earlier. The near-term bias has also turned more neutral now on a drop below the 100-hour moving average (red line) as this keeps with the rejection from the December highs of 1.2443-46: