Euro hurt by manufacturing news

Story link: Euro hurt by manufacturing news

The euro was weaker in relation to the US dollar and the Japanese yen Friday after a report showed that one index of European manufacturing dropped to 33.9 in December while a German manufacturing index fell to 32.7, more of a decline than had been anticipated.

However, the greenback lost some of its gains versus the shared currency and the yen after a separate report from the Institute for Supply Management showed that its US factory index dropped to 32.4 in December, down from 36.2 in November.

Additionally, the pound declined in relation to the US dollar and the euro after a report that home mortgage approvals were down to 27,000 in November, while the manufacturing index from the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply remained near a record low at 34.9 in December, showing that manufacturing remains in contraction in the UK as well.

In each case, a reading below 50 indicates that manufacturing activity is contracting rather than expanding.

In late morning trade in New York the dollar traded at $1.3966 to the shared currency while it took ¥90.93 to buy a dollar and ¥126.73 to buy a euro.

At the same time, the pound traded at 96.24p to the euro while it took $1.4512 to buy a pound.