US Manufacturing Still Growing – Risk Appetite Trading Triggered

The manufacturing sector in the US continues growing: the purchasing managers index rose to 51.6 points in September, exceeding expectations of a score of 50.5 and defying rumors of a number below 50 which represents contraction.  

The dollar is stronger against the Japanese yen and weaker against the euro – a classic risk appetite trade.

Looking at the internal numbers of the ISM Manufacturing PMI, we see a rise in the production index after it contracted in August. New orders remained under 50, in contraction zone. This is not a great report, but with all the recession warnings, it’s a point of light.

This figure raises the chances of a gain in jobs in Friday’s Non-Farm Payrolls reports. With Europe showing weakness and worrying signs from China, some good news from the US will eventually help the dollar.

Also Britain posted a positive surprise in its manufacturing PMI: it was expected to remain under 50, and jumped above this number, showing a return to growth, at least temporarily.

The gains in the euro related to the this event will likely be limited, as the pair is much more sensitive to Greek news than to US figures these days.

For more about EUR/USD, see the euro dollar forecast.

Also another US figure exceeded predictions:  Construction Spending rose by 1.4%, significantly higher than a drop of 0.1% that was estimated.