(RTTNews) - The euro edged lower in early deals Thursday as negative data from China and the eurozone stoked concerns about global growth. Although the activity in Eurozone's manufacturing sector decreased at a slower pace in September, it remained in the contraction area, data released by Markit Economics showed today. The seasonally adjusted purchasing managers' index (PMI) for the manufacturing sector rose to a six-month high of 46 in September from 45.1 in August. Economists expected to index to rise to 45.5. Output in the manufacturing sector decreased at a slightly slower pace in September, with the relevant indicator rising to a five-month high of 45.5 from 44.4 in August. The composite output index, which measures activity in the manufacturing sector and the service sector, fell to 45.9 from 46.3 in the previous month, while economists expected an increase to 46.6. The index fell for twelve months in the last thirteen months. The French private sector shrank at the fastest pace since April 2009 driven by a marked decline in incoming new business, survey data from Markit Economics showed today. The flash composite output index fell to 44.1 in September from 48 in August. The reading stayed well below 50 indicating a contraction in the private sector. High-yielding currencies were under pressure in the Asian session after a report showed that China HSBC manufacturing PMI just improved slightly from 47.6 to 47.8 in September, but remained in the contraction area for the 11th month in a row. The euro that showed a solid rally in last 2-weeks against the Swiss franc on rumors of lifting EUR/CHF peg pared gains to reach a 1-week low of 1.2083 in early deals Thursday. Swiss trade surplus fell to CHF 1.733 billion in August from CHF 2.88 billion a month earlier, data released by Swiss Federal Customs Administration showed today. Exports rose 4.4 percent year-on-year in real terms following 0.8 percent gain in July, while Imports grew 0.9 percent annually in August following a 2.3 percent increase in July. The common currency reached below the key 0.80 level against the pound for the first time since September 13, falling as low as 0.7992 around 5:15 am ET. Technical picture for the EUR/GBP pair is quite bearish as the cross is staying well-below its 23.6 percent retracement level between a high in July 2011 and a low in July this year. The U.K. retail sales, including auto fuel, fell 0.2 percent month-on-month in August, data from the Office for National Statistics showed today. Economists had forecast a 0.3 percent drop following a 0.3 percent rise in July. Annually, sales volume advanced 2.7 percent, but was weaker than the expected 2.9 percent increase. (RTTNews) - The common currency is also in a pulling-back mode against the yen from its recent technical resistance levels, falling to a 6-day low of 101.02 around 5:15 am ET. The euro-yen pair is now trading well-below its 50.0 percent retracement level between its March-July highs and lows with 100.80 seen as the next near-term support level. Japan posted a merchandise trade deficit of 754.127 billion yen in August, sinking into the red for the ninth time in 11 months. However, the headline figure beat forecasts for a shortfall of 829.3 billion yen following the downwardly revised deficit of 518.9 billion yen in July. The European shared currency also reached below the key support level at 1.2950 against the US dollar, falling to a weekly low of 1.2932 by 5:15 am ET. The euro-buck pair is presently worth 1.2945 with 1.2780 seen as the next likely downside target level. Looking ahead, the U.S. weekly jobless claims for the weekended September 15, leading indicators for August, Philadelphia Fed index for September and speeches by a number of Fed officials in the North American session will provide further direction in the foreign exchange market.

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