EUR extends weakness as EZ manufacturing......>

FOREX: EUR extends weakness as EZ manufacturing folds

-EUR/USD took out key support early Wednesday as PMI numbers from across the

Eurozone fell well below expectations. Eurozone and (most importantly) German

manufacturing PMI hit the lowest levels in 75 and 84 months respectively,

prompting bears to re-focus on the cycle lows printed in May at $1.1107 ahead of

tomorrow's ECB.

-JPY and GBP are sitting at the top of the pile so far Wednesday, but gains a

limited as markets look to trim the moves seen on Tuesday. JPY traders eye the

likelihood of options-based orders around today's particularly large $4.31bln

option expiry at Y107 ($3.8bln of puts, $513mln calls).

-Focus remains on global central bank policy outlooks, evident in the surge in

EUR/USD overnight implied volatility, which ramped above 13 points to touch

multi-month highs.

-US PMI data takes focus for the US session, with new home sales data following

shortly afterward. There are no speakers of note, but US earnings season

continues with reports due from Boeing, Facebook, AT&T and others.