US Dollar sinks below 96.00 on ISM

The US Dollar Index, which tracks the buck vs. its main competitors, has quickly abandoned the area of session highs and slumped to the vicinity of 95.70.

US Dollar back below 96.00

After climbing as high as the area of 96.20 earlier in the session, the index has rapidly abandoned those levels and retreated to daily lows near 95.70 in response to a weaker print from the US ISM Manufacturing.

In fact, the ISM has come in at 49.4, returning to contraction territory and posting the lowest level since January. Adding to the pullback, Markit’s manufacturing PMI has also missed forecast during August at 52.0 vs. 52.1 expected.

USD has thus eroded earlier gains and is now giving away part of the recent 2-day advance to the area of 96.30 ahead of tomorrow’s critical Non-farm Payrolls (180K exp.).

US Dollar relevant levels

The index is now losing 0.15% at 95.88 and a breakdown of 95.76 (55-day sma) would aim for 95.19 (100-day sma) and then 94.05 (low Aug.18). On the other hand, the initial hurdle aligns at 96.32 (200-day sma) ahead of 96.50 (high Aug.5) and finally 96.86 (high Jun.27).