Worse-than-expected services and manufacturing PMI data in Germany, France and the UK raised fears of a looming recession and the start of a sell-off in the euro, with the British pound also weakening.

1. DToday, ata announced service and manufacturing expectations in Germany, France and the UK. Every single data point was significantly weaker than expected, fueling fears of an impending euro zone recession by providing clear evidence of a slowdown in economic activity in the main eurozone countries. The Euro is the weakest major currency in the forex market today, while the New Zealand Dollar is the strongest.
2. Stock markets are mixed todaywith the Chinese Hang Seng Index ended the day down more than 1%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 ended the day firmly higher, with major U.S. indexes also posting small gains since the after-hours open a few hours ago.
3. Later today, US services and manufacturing PMI data will be released.
4. Gasoline futures hit a new three-month high on Friday Cocoa futures ended last week very close to the long-term highs that were printed just a few days ago. Both assets will be of interest to trend traders on the long side.
5. The US dollar continues to strengthen as markets await an expected 0.25% Federal Reserve rate hike on Wednesday.