Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Index comes in at 47.4 against 13.7 consensus

The Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Index for August was released today, showing a reading of 47.4. This figure significantly exceeded the market consensus expectation of 13.7. The actual print represents an increase from the previous month’s figure of 41.4. The surprise against consensus was 246.0%.

Following the release, 15 minutes after the print, AUDUSD was up 4.0 pips, EURUSD was up 2.8 pips, and GBPUSD was up 3.3 pips. NZDUSD was up 2.8 pips. USDCAD was up 2.2 pips, while USDCHF was down 2.5 pips. USDJPY was down 2.3 pips. Gold, XAUUSD, saw a move of +68 pips. For many pairs, these initial 15-minute moves are relatively small when compared to their median 1-hour moves observed after past releases. For instance, EURUSD typically sees a median 1-hour move of 9 pips, and GBPUSD a median 1-hour move of 12 pips. XAUUSD’s move of 68 pips falls within the top-quarter of its historical 1-hour moves, which are 60+ pips.