The German powerhouse rages on, with Markit’s manufacturing PMI still pointing to strong growth: 60.5 points, slightly above expectations. The services PMI is a bit lower: 55.2, yet manufacturing carries more weight.

EUR/USD stabilizes in the narrow range.

Markit’s preliminary German manufacturing PMI for October was expected to tick down from 60.6 to 60.2 points. These levels, above 60 points, reflect very strong growth in the forward-looking data. The services PMI was predicted to remain unchanged at 55.6 points.

EUR/USD was trading in a narrow range and slipping just ahead of the publication, trading around 1.1744. The range for the day so far has been 1.1740 to 1.1770.

Earlier, France’s numbers came out slightly above expectations. The manufacturing PMI for the second largest economy advanced to 56.7 points, above 56.2 predicted. The services PMI went further, to 57.4, above 57 projected.

The crisis in Catalonia looms above the euro. Spain is about to impose direct rule over the northeastern region and it isn’t likely to go down quite well. Things will come to a head on Thursday and Friday, with debates in the Catalan parliament and the Spanish Senate.