USD/JPY reaches new session high as US service sector PMI data rises above consensus

Earlier this afternoon the latest New York area (Empire) manufacturing index really disappointed. It was last at 31.2 and had been expected to fall back to around 10. The actual reading was just 0.2. Perhaps had a lower reading not been expected, then this really weak reading would have had more of a negative impact on the dollar. In fact, as the dust settled on that data, the dollar started to rise towards session highs. Well, just now we got the same wider region flash US PMI data we saw out of France, Germany and the UK earlier today. The markets were expecting slightly lower readings in both manufacturing, services and the composite of the two. The actual data has been mixed, with services beating by some margin, but manufacturing has fallen back to 48.3, from 49.7. The Service sector is going gangbusters though, rising from 56.1 to 58.5. The immediate reaction to this has seen the USD/JPY rise to a new high around 154.35