Japanese markets are closed till Thursday due to public holidays, however, a number of Asian stocks traded lower over fears of a slowdown of growth in China. The China HSBC Manufacturing PMI for April showed a reading of 48.9, this figure indicates that the manufacturing economy is declining, and has continued to decline for a second consecutive month. Furthermore, the Reserve Bank of Australia cut its interest rates for the second time in 4 months as the country struggles with the slowing Chinese demand. The Hang Seng Index was down 1.31%, closing at 27,755 and the Shanghai Composite dropped 2.81%.

During the European session, the British pound traded higher against the weaker Dollar despite negative data from the UK. The Construction PMI for the month of April showed a reading of 54.2 which indicated expansion, however, lower than the expected figure of 57.5. The Euro also traded Bullish following the European Commission’s quarterly forecast, the board raised its expectations for the growth of the economy from 1.3% to 1.5%.

The Dollar dropped against a basket of major currencies following a number of economic reports from the U.S., The ISM Non-Manufacturing PMI for April showed a higher than forecast reading of 57.8, however, the Trade Balance and the Service PMI both showed worse than expected figures.

Later today, New Zealand will release the first quarterly Employment Change, if the actual figure is lower than the forecast figure of 0.8% then the NZD could decline for the short term. Currency traders are also awaiting a number of economic reports taking place tomorrow from Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States.

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