EUR/USD has recorded small losses in the Thursday session. Currently, the pair is trading at 1.1624, down 0.07% on the day. On the release front, German Factory Orders declined 0.9%, missing the estimate of +1.8%. In the U.S, the focus will be on key employment indicators. ADP nonfarm payrolls is expected to slide to 195 thousand and unemployment claims are forecast to tick higher to 214 thousand. As well, ISM Non-Manufacturing PMI is expected to improve to 56.8 points. Friday will be busy, so traders should be prepared for some movement from EUR/USD. Germany releases industrial production and trade balance, while the eurozone will release GDP. In the U.S, there are three key employment indicators – nonfarm payrolls, wage growth and the unemployment rate.
This week’s German manufacturing indicators have been soft. This has weighed on the euro and also raised concern about the strength of the German economy, the largest in the eurozone. Factory orders dropped 0.9% in July, its fourth decline in five months. New orders were down in the eurozone as well as in other countries, as weaker growth in the eurozone and elsewhere has taken a bite out of the manufacturing sector. Earlier in the week, Germany, Final Manufacturing PMI fell from 56.9 to 55.9. Although this is a respectable reading, it is significantly lower than the readings we saw early in 2018, when the indicator was above the 60-level. We’ll get another look at German industrial data on Friday, with the release of Industrial Production. The markets are expecting a small gain of 0.2%.
The U.S dollar remains strong, as trade tensions boosted the U.S dollar against its major rivals. Nervous investors are keeping an eye on the White House, as President Trump could announce further trade sanctions against China as early as today. Trade tensions have been on the rise since April, when the U.S started imposed tariffs to protest its claim of unfair trade practices by its trading partners, in particular, China. The dollar has benefited from the global trade war, and further tariffs against China could boost the greenback and send gold prices lower.
