StockMarketWire.com - The start of the European trading session saw the release of purchasing managers indexes (PMI) with German and Italian readings both outperforming expectations coming in at 49.8 and 47.8 respectively. France was the worst performer, remaining unmoved from December levels at 42.9. Adding to the bullish sentiment in the EU, unemployment displaying a better-than-expected level of 11.7%, outperforming expectations by 0.2%. EUR pairs pushed higher again today, with the biggest moves being seen in EUR/JPY +1.62% ¥126.58, EUR/GBP +1.55% £0.8696 and EUR/CAD +1.02% $1.3541.

The British pound resumed its down trend across the majority of its major counterparts exacerbated by UK manufacturing PMI data for January realising a decline of 0.4 month-on-month as the reading comes in worse-than-expected at 50.8 -0.2 below expectations. GBP/NZD -1.63% $1.8591, Cable -0.71% to $1.5744, GBP/AUD -0.61% £1.5115 and -0.53% at 1.5731.

US non-farm payroll data realised an addition of 157k jobs in the economy. Despite coming in below expectations of 163k for January, the numbers are up 2k from December. Adding to this semi-bullish number was the increase in the ISM manufacturing index (53.1). However, the inverse relationship between the USD and the equity indices continues as the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DIJA) breaks through a 14,000 level, not seen since 2007. Yet, the USD continues to decline against it's major partners.

At market close:


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