Macro Trades: EUR/USD, USD/CAD

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EUR/USD: French Flash Services and Manufacturing PMIs

The European Common Currency appreciated against the US Dollar, following the French Flash Services and Manufacturing PMIs data release on Friday at 07:15 GMT. The EUR/USD exchange currency rate gained 19 pips or 0.17% right after the release. The Euro continued trading at the 1.1315 level against the Greenback.

Markit released the French Flash Services PMI data, which came out better-than expected of 53.1 compared with forecasted 51.6. The French Flash Manufacturing PMI data also came out better-than expected of 52.0 compared with forecast of 51.0.

Surprisingly, the Euro appreciated only 13 pips or 0.11% against the US Dollar, following the German Flash Manufacturing and Services PMIs data release on Friday at 07:30 GMT. The given data also beat expectations.

USD/CAD: Canadian Retail Sales

The US Dollar appreciated against the Canadian Dollar, following the Canadian Retail Sales data release on Friday at 12:30 GMT. The USD/CAD exchange currency rate gained 11 pips or 0.08% right after the release. The Greenback continued trading at the 1.3196 level against the Canadian Dollar.

Statistics Canada released the Canadian Core Retail Sales data, which came out worse-than-expected of 0.1% compared with forecast of 0.6%.

According to official release: "Retail sales rose for the third consecutive month, edging up 0.1% to $51.5 billion in April. Excluding sales at motor vehicle and parts dealers and gasoline stations, retail sales were down 0.1%. Sales were up in 7 of 11 subsectors, representing 74% of retail trade. Higher sales at gasoline stations and food and beverage stores were the main contributors to the gain. After removing the effects of price changes, retail sales in volume terms decreased 0.2%."

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EUR/USD hits two-day highs near 1.1820

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