AUD Bearish: China’s NBS Manufacturing PMI arrives at 49.4 in June, misses estimates

Dhwani Mehta FXStreet

On Sunday, the purchasing managers' index (PMI) for China's manufacturing sector arrived at 49.4 in June, the same as that seen in May, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) reported.

Markets had predicted a reading of 49.5 in the reported month.

Meanwhile, the Chinese NBS Non-Manufacturing PMI for June arrived at 54.2 vs. 54.5 expected and 54.3 prior.

According to the latest poll of 20 economists, the official Manufacturing Purchasing Manager’s Index (PMI) for June was seen higher at 49.5 from May’s reading of 49.4.

The downbeat data is likely to serve a negative impact on the Australian dollar. However, the US-China trade truce may outweigh the bearish Chinese macro news and keep the sentiment around the AUD/USD pair buoyed. The Aussie is likely to extend its run higher beyond the 0.70 handle.

Author

Dhwani Mehta

FXStreet

Residing in Mumbai (India), Dhwani is a Senior Analyst and Manager of the Asian session at FXStreet. She has over 10 years of experience in analyzing and covering the global financial markets, with specialization in Forex and commodities markets.

EUR/USD struggles to regain momentum in the low1.1600s

EUR/USD is giving some signs of life in the aftermath of two severe days of losses on Wednesday, reclaiming the 1.1600 hurdle and above on the back of the resurgence of a mild selling bias around the US Dollar. Moving forward, the usual US weekly Claims will take centre stage on Thursday ahead of Friday’s crucial NFP data.

GBP/USD tests key moving averages as growth downgrade weighs

GBP/USD was nearly flat on Wednesday, edging up 0.08% to settle around 1.3370 in a quiet session. The pair has fallen sharply from its late-January high near 1.3870 and is now testing the 200-day Exponential Moving Average, with this week's one-week forex heatmap showing Pound Sterling as one of the worst performers against the US Dollar, down about 1.4% on the week.

Gold benefits from a retreating USD; reduced Fed rate cut bets cap gains

Gold attracts some buyers for the second consecutive day on Thursday amid a modest US Dollar pullback from an over three-month high, though it remains below the $5,200 mark. Wednesday's upbeat US macro data further tempered hopes for three rate cuts by the Fed in 2026. Furthermore, escalating Middle East tensions might continue to benefit the USD's status as the global reserve currency and contribute to capping the bullion.