Fundamental Forecast for Euro: Bullish

- German investor sentiment jumped to the highest level in over 3 years
- German producer prices plunged 7.8% in July from a year ago, the sharpest drop since records began in 1949
- German services, French manufacturing PMI breached 50 in August, signaling growth for first time in 12+ months

The euro staged an impressive rebound against the US dollar from 1.4050 last week, closing Friday just below resistance at 1.4350. The appreciation was the result of a variety of factors, including broad US dollar weakness, but also from fundamental forces. Indeed, German services PMI surged to a 16-month high of 54.1 in August while French manufacturing PMI hit a 15-month high of 50.2, signaling an expansion in activity after growth had contracted for more than a year. Together, these helped push the Euro-zone composite PMI, which encompasses both manufacturing and services, up to a 14-month high of 50 from 47.0. Now, 50 is the point of neutrality for these indices, so the data suggests that business activity in the Euro-zone registered no change during August, but put into perspective with the record lows seen in the first quarter, the news is positive. The data was timely when also considering Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke’s comments from the Jackson Hole Symposium – a meeting of the world’s central bankers and finance ministers – as he said we are "beginning to emerge" from a deep global recession. Given strong PMI reports, it looks like the Euro-zone could be helping lead the way.

That said, upcoming economic reports may exacerbate this optimistic sentiment or derail it. On Wednesday, the German IFO survey of business confidence. Like the latest ZEW survey, the results are anticipated to reflect a surge in confidence, with the index estimated to creep up to a 10-month high of 89.0 in August from 87.3. On Thursday, the German GfK survey of consumer confidence is projected to rise to a more than 1-year high of 3.6 in September from 3.5 and on Friday, Euro-zone economic confidence is anticipated to increase to a 10-month high of 78.0 in August from 76.0. Overall, a steady stream of positive news could be the impetus to drive EURUSD to fresh 2009 highs. That said, such a move would also require a broad increase in risk appetite, as the US dollar is still treated as a safe haven asset.

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