ISM manufacturing index in the spotlight for the EUR/USD this afternoon

There are some pretty important US data releases due out this afternoon. First we get the latest Challenger job cuts report in a minute and then at 12.30pm GMT we get the latest weekly jobless claims data. However, the most important release today could be the July ISM manufacturing index, due at 2pm GMT. The markets are expecting only a modest improvement on the 48.5 reading posted in June. The forecast is for a rise to 48.8, but as usual with this data, we have a few moving parts such as the new orders and employment components and most important of all, the prices paid component. Ahead of all these releases the dollar is on the rebound versus the Yen still. The GBP/USD is above 1.2800 again though and the EUR/USD remains camped below the 1.0800 handle, having reached a low earlier at 1.0778. All this US data could extend that earlier downside move, or detract from it- we shall see. The EUR/USD is currently trading at 1.0792