The long-awaited preliminary PMIs for March from major European economies have been just released. French data released at 8:15 am GMT showed manufacturing gauge dropping from 49.8 to 42.9 pts (exp. 40 pts) and services index slumping from 52.5 to 29 pts (exp. 42 pts). German data released at 8:30 am GMT showed the manufacturing index declining from 48 to 45.7 pts (exp. 39.6 pts) and services gauge declined from 52.5 to 34.5 pts (exp. 42.3 pts).
European data fits into the picture seen in Australian and Japanese releases - the coronavirus outbreak has been a much bigger hit to the services sector rather than manufacturing one. EURUSD did not see much of a reaction to the data and continues to move higher thanks to USD weakness. However, stock markets dipped on the release.
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Open real account TRY DEMO Download mobile app Download mobile appDE30 took a steep dive after the release of French PMI data. Next wave of selling came after the release of German data. DE30 dropped more than 150 pts over the previous 20 minutes. Source: xStation5