The US dollar was falling against the euro during the most active part of the early trading session today. The euro has increased its strength vs. the greenback after the report has shown a widened US trade balance deficit. In less than two hours, the services PMI numbers pushed the EUR/USD down very fast.
US trade balance deficit increased at an unexpectedly fast pace in March of this year — it went up from $35.9 billion (revised from $35.4 billion) to $51.4 billion, while the market participants expected a growth $41.7 billion. (Event A on the chart.)
Markit services PMI was down from 59.2 in March to 57.4 in April. The number fell short of the median forecast value of 57.8. (Event B on the chart.)
Another sentiment gauge, ISM services PMI, demonstrated an inprovement in April. It went up from 56.5% to 57.8%. A small decline to 56.2% was expected according to the market analysts’ forecasts. (Event C on the chart.)
Yesterday, a report on factory orders has shown a growth of 2.1% in March following 0.1% decline in February (revised down from 0.2% increase). The orders rose in line with the forecasts. (Not shown on the chart.)
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