In US trade, the euro experienced some modest losses as European manufacturing data confirmed suspicions that the eurozone’s growth prospects were deteriorating further.
The eurozone wide manufacturing PMI was confirmed at 47.7, a fall from February's print of 49. The French number was revised down to 46.7 and the German number up to 48.4. The eurozone February jobless rate rose to 10.8%, in-line with consensus. The Italian February jobless rate moved up to 9.3%, the highest increase since January 2004. This highlights the challenges faced by Mario Monti's government to hit its fiscal targets, without further eroding the country growth hopes.
Having ended yesterday’s Australian trade around the 1.3345 level, the euro slumped to a US session low of 1.3278, before recovering somewhat to eventually close at 1.3321. Upon reopening for the Asian session, the euro has pushed higher to be currently trading in the mid-1.33340 range.