The Eurozone economy returns to growth

The Eurozone’s Composite Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) was revised upwards to 50.3 in March,
up from the initial estimate of 49.9 and a significant improvement from 49.2 in February.

This indicates the return of growth to the private sector in the Eurozone for the first time since May of last year.

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Euro
Yen
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Euro

The services sector showed improvement at 51.5 in March compared to 50.2 previously.
This growth was supported by stable demand and efforts to clear backlogged work.

Additionally, there was a third consecutive month of net job growth in the Eurozone,
with companies expressing increasing confidence in the economic outlook.

Business activity expectations reached a high not seen since February 2022,
indicating positive expectations for the coming months.

Yen

The Japanese yen declines amid risks of government intervention.

The Japanese yen stabilized near 152 against the US dollar, with investors avoiding large bets in anticipation of clearer signals on whether the Japanese authorities would intervene again in the currency markets to stop the yen’s weakness.

Meanwhile, former senior currency diplomat Hiroshi Watanabe said the government is unlikely to take any steps unless the yen falls below 155 yen per dollar.

Earlier this week, Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki pointed to various domestic and foreign factors behind recent currency movements but noted that “there are some speculative movements that do not reflect the fundamentals.”

The yen’s rapid decline came amid speculation that the Bank of Japan’s monetary policy would remain accommodative for some time despite the recent shift against negative interest rates.

Dollar

The dollar stabilizes as markets await US employment data.

The dollar stabilized on Thursday below recent highs in anticipation of US employment data and traders’ relief following comments by Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, which they saw as reassuring about the prospects for interest rate cuts this year.

Powell made balanced remarks indicating that policymakers would make their decisions based on economic data. Traders focused on his view that recent data had not generally changed the outlook.

Analysts said, “The speech generally confirmed that the Federal Reserve is on track to cut interest rates this year, and timing will be determined according to the data. We believe that by July, the Fed will likely have enough confidence to begin reducing interest rates.”

Traders are focused on the US employment data scheduled for release tomorrow, Friday.

The Eurozone economy returns to growth

The Eurozone economy returns to growth

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