The last day of the month is very saturated with macroeconomic news and highly volatile. The focus of investors is China and Europe, where the most important news is expected.
In the morning there were reports on business activity in China, which were disappointing for investors. The manufacturing PMI index of business activity fell to 50.1 pips, down 0.4 points in April. This brought back investors' concerns about the slowdown in the Chinese economy and the global economy as a whole. As a result, commodity currencies were under pressure and the demand for safe assets increased.
The news from the EU was not so disappointing. Quarterly GDP reports in France, Spain, and the EU as a whole met market expectations. Investors were also pleased with the data on unemployment. Thus, the euro received support today and is recovering after a decrease last week.
The second half of the day will be no less active. Investors are waiting for the data on Canada's GDP, the commodity price index, and aspeech by the head of the Bank of Canada. Reports on the real estate market are expected from the US. The day will end with new data on weekly oil reserves in the United States. Meanwhile, oil is rising in price after last week's decline, but remains under pressure due to disappointing reports from China and concerns about the situation in the global economy.
