The US dollar had a mixed performance against the euro and the British pound on Monday, as freshly released manufacturing data increased hesitation between traders. An index that measures the strength of the greenback was little changed from yesterday as anticipation grew for upcoming economic releases this week.
The Institute for Supply Management published a report on manufacturing activity in the United States. The report stated the ISM manufacturing purchasing managersâ index retreated to 54.8% in April from 57.2% in March, which disappointed expectations for a reading of 56.5%.
The fresh reading revealed that the manufacturing sector continued to expand during the last month, however at a slower rate as the new orders index dropped to 57.5% from 64.5% in March. Another subindex that tracks manufacturing employment declined to 52% in April from 58.9% in the previous month.
Manufacturing data from the Institute for Supply Management is a key indicator for the US economic health, which caused todayâs release to weigh on the US dollar. The downturn in manufacturing activity was further confirmed by a separate report from IHS Markit that was published earlier today. The report said that the US purchasing managersâ index of the research firm dropped to 52.8 in April from 53.3 in March, marking the slowest expansion of business conditions since September 2016.
A third economic release from the Bureau of Economic Analysis eased some of the negative pressures on the greenback today. The bureau said that the US personal consumption expenditure price index declined 0.2% in March after rising 0.1% in February, which matched expectations. However on a yearly basis, the index rose 1.8% in March from 2.1% in the previous month, missing estimates of a 1.9% increase.
Traders now anticipate ADP nonfarm employment data and a new reading for nonmanufacturing purchasing managersâ index from the Institute for Supply management on Wednesday. The data will help adding clarity to the picture of the US economy.
EUR/USD traded at 1.0905 as of 21:00 GMT on Monday from 1.0922 as of 14:20 GMT, the pairâs highest level since April 28. EUR/USD began the week at 1.0896. GBP/USD was at 1.2905, after rising to 1.2935 at 10:00 GMT today. GBP/USD started the day at 1.2930.
The Dollar Index, which tracks the performance of the US currency against a basket of its major peers, was at 99.07 as of 20:55 GMT today, from 99.05 on Friday.
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