Session Recap: Bullish Aussie and Chinese data keeping risk afloat early Friday; the euro left behind

FXstreet.com (Barcelona) - The Asian session Friday was characterized by the matching PMI beats out of China as well as Aussie-bullish data out of Australia. However, there was a continuation of the intense selling in the euro that commenced late Wednesday / early Thursday.

Chinese PMI beat gives risk assets and Asia-Pacific currencies a boost

Much-anticipated Chinese PMI data points came out ahead of expectations Friday which gave most Asia-Pacific currencies a nice boost.

Australian data beats expectations – giving the Aussie Dollar a lift

Even prior to Chinese data lifting the Aussie Dollar up against most other currencies, the Australian Performance of Manufacturing Index came out ahead of expectations – giving the AUD a head start on the rest of the region ahead of the Chinese PMI data.

Technical computer-driven selling causing a snowballing move lower in the euro

While all the data from Australia and China was bullish, not all risk currencies participated in the upside. The euro sharply and very conspicuously lagged on no / limited news. Technicians attributed a majority of the trading action to technical forces and automatic stop-loss triggering once certain technical levels were breached.

Main headlines in Asia

Australian Q3 PPI jumps to 1.3% q/q from 0.1%

China's manufacturing PMI stabilizes at 51.4

China HSBC PMI unchanged at 50.7, strongest improvement in 7 months

China's official PMI indicates sustainable growth / ANZ

ECB can no longer ignore deflation risk, implications mixed for EUR- RBS

EUR/JPY trading heavy as stops triggered below 133.30

Large EURAUD and EURUSD flows