Foreign Exchange Market Update

September 23, 2025

Eurozone Private Sector Logs Strongest Growth in 16 Months

Euro traded at 1.1792 against USD at 9:00 AM PST

The Euro area private sector expanded at the fastest pace in 16 months in September, driven by an acceleration in services activity growth. The overall improvement was due to the service sector posting the fastest growth in 2025 so far. Manufacturing output also increased, but the rate of expansion eased from the near three-and-a-half-year high seen in August.

The services PMI hit a nine-month high of 51.4, up from 50.5 in August. Meanwhile, the factory PMI dropped to 49.5 from 50.7 in the prior month. The new business remained unchanged in September after posting its first increase in 15 months in August. New export orders decreased each month since March 2022, and the latest drop was the sharpest in six months.

Ending a six-month sequence of job creation, employment was stable in September. Staff in the services sector continued to rise, while manufacturing employment fell further. Regarding prices, the input cost inflation softened in September, and overall output prices grew at the slowest pace since May.

Purchasing activity and stocks of purchases in the manufacturing sector declined in September. Stocks of finished goods also dropped. Business sentiment deteriorated to a four-month low in September. The weakness was centered on the manufacturing sector, as services sentiment was broadly unchanged from August.

Germany was a key driver of growth, registering a solid increase in output that was the joint-fastest since May 2023. On the other hand, France contracted for the thirteenth consecutive month. Underpinned by a renewed upturn in the service sector, Germany's private sector growth strengthened.

France's private sector shrank the most in five months in September. The flash composite output index fell to 48.4 from 49.8 in the previous month. There were renewed weaknesses in both manufacturing and services. The services PMI posted 48.9, down from 49.8 in August. Likewise, the manufacturing PMI slid to 48.1 in September from 50.4 a month ago. 09/23/2025 - 07:03:00 (RTTNews)

Singapore Inflation Weakest Since Early 2021

Singapore's inflation rate slowed to its lowest level in more than four years in August, primarily due to a decline in services and accommodation costs. Consumer prices logged an annual growth of 0.5% in August, slower than the 0.6% rise in July. This was the weakest since January 2021.

Monthly, the CPI rose 0.5%, offsetting a 0.4% fall in July. The increase in service costs slowed to 0.4% from 0.7%. The cost of accommodation moved up 0.4% annually, following a 0.5% rise in July. Food inflation remained steady at 1.1%. 09/23/2025 - 02:22:00 (RTTNews)