Forex: EUR/USD climbs to 5-week high at 1.3254

_iNVEZZ.com Wednesday July 24th:_ The euro has firmed against the greenback in early American trading today, with the pair rising close to a five-week high at 1.3254, up 65 pips from the current intraday low at 1.3289.

The pair’s sharp rise came on the back of positive economic news from the Eurozone, released earlier today.
The Purchasing Managers Index for the Eurozone rose to an 18-month high of 50.4 in July, from June’s 48.7, adding to recent evidence that overall economic activity in the 17-country bloc has been consolidating this summer, with prospects for an exit from the downturn in the third quarter after continuous falls in the index since late 2011.

In related news, the preliminary reading of the German Manufacturing PMI data for July came out at 50.3 points, well up on June’s 48.6 and beating forecasts for 49.4.
In the US, MBA’s Mortgage Applications last week checked in as a drop of 1.2 percent, following the prior week’s fall of 2.6 percent.
The MBA also reported that fixed 30-year mortgage rates averaged 4.58 percent last week, down 10 basis points on the week before and the biggest weekly drop since August 2012.