Eurozone PMI Tests: Evaluating Growth Sentiment and Positioning in EUR/USD

EUR: PMI test for positioning

Today’s PMI surveys will be a new opportunity for markets to gauge whether eurozone growth sentiment has indeed bottomed out. Consensus expectations suggest this is the case; while staying in contractionary territory, the general view is that we should see a modest rebound in both the manufacturing and services indices.

From an FX perspective, the reaction to the November PMIs will tell us how much position-squaring effects are still playing a role in EUR/USD. Should a surprise in either direction be followed by an exacerbated move in EUR/USD despite thinner trading on Thanksgiving, then we would conclude positioning imbalances persist. We think, however, that some flattening around 1.0900 is more likely.

We have seen some recovery in EUR/USD overnight, and it appears that the surprise win of far-right candidate Geert Wilders in the Dutch elections has not had a noticeable market impact so far.

EUR/GBP rebounded modestly yesterday after the UK’s Autumn Statement, where Chancellor Jeremy Hunt announced some widely expected cuts to personal and business taxes. The implications for sterling should – in general – be positive as the tax cuts suggest a better growth outlook and potentially stickier inflation. However, it felt like the move in GBP already happened into the announcement, and there was some “buy the rumour, sell the fact” effect causing a softening of the sterling momentum.