The economic calendar features a slew of market-moving headlines on Friday, with the Eurozone representing the lion’s share of activity.
Action begins at 06:45 GMT with the latest reports on French consumer and producer inflation. From there, investors will assess Spanish retail sales and Italian CPI inflation. Italy will also present the latest unemployment figures at 09:00 GMT.
The European Commission’s statistical agency will report on the unemployment rate at 09:00 GMT. Eurozone unemployment is forecast to fall slightly to 8.2% in July compared with 8.3% the previous month.
At the same time, Eurostat will also report on the Eurozone consumer price index for July. Consumer inflation in the 19-member currency region is forecast to come in at 2.1% annually in August. Core inflation is projected at 1.1%, according to analysts.
Ahead of the North American session, investors can expect a revised reading on Italian GDP for the second quarter.
In North America, ISM-Chicago will release the closely-watched Chicago purchasing managers’ index (PMI) at 13:45 GMT. Just 15 minutes later, the University of Michigan will release its final reading of the consumer sentiment index. According to analysts, the revised reading is expected to show a slight improvement at 94.4
Earlier in the session, the Chinese government reported better than expected PMI data, a sign the world’s second-largest economy was slowly regaining momentum. The National Bureau of Statistics’ manufacturing PMI strengthened to 51.3 in August from 51.2 the previous month. The services PMI gauge improved 0.2 point to 54.2.
AUD/USD
After an impressive recovery attempt, the Australian dollar has once again fallen on hard times. The AUD/USD exchange rate is down nearly 100 pips from its recent high and is now forming a double-bottom in the mid-0.7200 range. At the time of writing, the AUD/USD exchange rate was trading at 0.7263, where it was little changed compared with the previous close. The pair faces immediate support at 0.7200.
EUR/USD
Europe’s common currency continues to trade comfortably in the 1.1670-1.1700 region after maxing out at 1.1734 earlier in the week. At press time, the EUR/USD currency pair was holding steady at 1.1671. From a technical perspective, the pair faces immediate support at 1.1538, which corresponds with the 21-day simple moving average. On the opposite side of the ledger, immediate resistance is located at 1.1745.
GBP/USD
Cable has flatlined near four-week highs, a sign that the bulls were gradually running out of steam. The GBP/USD exchange rate currently sits at 1.3020, where it was up slightly compared with the previous close. In terms of technical indicators, the pair faces immediate support at 1.3000, which also corresponds with the 61.8% Fibonacci retracement. On the flipside, the immediate resistance is at 1.3057.
