• EUR/USD tested fresh highs at 1.0888 before falling back.
• EU and US PMIs came in soft or mixed, giving bulls cause for pause.
• Friday to wrap up the week with German final GDP, Fed MPR.

EUR/USD broke higher on Thursday, testing into its highest bids since the start of February before falling back into the 1.0800 region after European and US Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) figures softened or came in mixed on forecasts. The Pan-European Composite PMI ticked higher, but the Manufacturing component fell back once again, and US PMIs also gave a mixed showing.

Friday brings final German Gross Domestic Product (GDP) figures, and the US Federal Reserve (Fed) will be releasing its Monetary Policy Report to wrap up the trading week. Investors will be gearing up for next week’s US GDP print due next Wednesday, followed by Thursday’s EU Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation figures alongside US Personal Consumption Expenditure (PCE) numbers.

Daily digest market movers: EUR/USD recedes just as quickly as it rises on PMI hesitation

• Germany’s HCOB Services PMI rose to 48.2 in February, beating the 48.0 forecast and the previous print of 47.7, while the Manufacturing component declined to a four-month low of 42.3 versus the forecast uptick to 46.1 from January’s 45.5.
• The Pan-European HCOB Composite PMI rose to 48.9 against the forecast of 48.5 from 47.9, getting bolstered by the European Services component printing at 50.0, above contractionary territory for the first time in seven months. The Services component was expected to print at 48.8 versus the previous 48.4.
• Europe’s Manufacturing PMI component fell to 46.1 versus the forecast of 47.0, falling away from the previous 46.6.
• On the US side, the S&P Global Services PMI fell to 51.3 against the expected 52.0, pulling back even further away from the previous print of 52.5.
• The Manufacturing component swung upward to 51.5 compared to the forecast for 50.5, climbing over the previous 50.7 and posting its highest figure since October of 2022.
• [Read more: US S&P Global Manufacturing PMI improves to 51.5].