Euro Area Business Activity Remains Solid as EUR/USD Hovers Near Key Levels

[Ben Graham]

Most Read: Brutal Market Reversals – Market wrap for the North American session - November 20

Provisional PMI data for November shows that business activity in the eurozone is still growing strongly, and companies are feeling optimistic about the upcoming year.

However, there are some mixed signals: the growth of new orders has slowed down, and businesses stopped hiring new workers after a brief increase in October.

Financially, companies are facing higher expenses. Their operating costs rose at the fastest speed in eight months, largely due to higher prices in manufacturing. Despite these rising costs, businesses only raised their own prices slightly, the smallest increase for customers in over a year.

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The eurozone economy continued to show solid growth in November, although the momentum remains uneven across sectors.

Overall Activity: The Composite PMI Output Index posted at 52.4, signaling a solid monthly rise in business activity, marking the 11th consecutive month of growth. This rate of expansion is among the sharpest seen in the last two and a half years.

Sector Divide: Growth was driven almost entirely by the service sector, which expanded at its fastest pace in a year and a half. In contrast, manufacturing production increased only slightly, tying for the slowest rate in the current nine-month growth sequence.

New Orders: While new orders rose for the fourth month in a row, the rate of growth slowed down. This was largely due to weak international demand, as export orders (including trade within the eurozone) decreased again.

On the inflation front, input costs rose at the fastest rate since March, but output price inflation eased to its lowest level in just over a year. Business sentiment edged higher in November, signaling improving confidence despite softer demand indicators.

Euro Area Q3 Negotiated Wages

The European Central Bank's survey of negotiated wages for the third quarter came in well below expectations with a print of 1.87% YoY vs estimates of 2.45%. The ECB and market participants had been hoping for a better number which would have shown that real wages are rising which would lead to solid demand in 2026.

This will now be something the ECB will monitor moving forward and lines up with some of the concerns around demand raised by the PMI data.

Technical Analysis - EUR/USD

Looking at EUR/USD from a technical standpoint, the pair appears on course to print a fresh lower low.

EUR/USD has largely been driven by US Dollar developments of late and the one concern may hinge on the price action of the US Dollar Index.

The Dollar index has peaked above the psychological 100.00 mark but has printed what looks like a double top pattern.

If the Dollar index begins to drop this could scupper the move for EUR/USD to print a fresh lower low and EUR/USD coil revisit the recent swing high at 1.1650.

EUR/USD Daily Chart, November 21, 2025

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Source:TradingView.com

Support

• 1.1500
• 1.1450 (key pivot level)
• 1.1405 (200-day MA)

Resistance

• 1.1585
• 1.1650
• 1.1700

Looking Ahead

Later in the day we have several central bank officials are scheduled to speak today, most notably ECB President Christine Lagarde at a conference in Frankfurt. Since the event focuses on the benefits of investing in Europe, Lagarde may discuss the idea of strengthening the Euro's role on the world stage. Recent reports suggest the ECB is considering a plan to let central banks outside the eurozone access Euros more easily.

This strategy is designed to make countries more comfortable using the Euro for international trade, similar to a method China has used for its currency and to boost the Euro's global standing.

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