On Tuesday, the Pound Sterling had its largest single day’s decline in six weeks against the US Dollar; those losses are continuing to mount in Wednesday’s trading session. The latest event which is pushing the Pound lower is a recent poll which shows that Britons are now equally divided on the question of Britain staying within the E.U. Previously, Britons appeared less inclined to permit a so-called Brexit.
As reported at 10:52 am (BST) in London, the GBP/USD was trading at $1.4468, down 0.46%; the pair has ranged from $1.4465 to $1.4574 in today’s trading session. The EUR/GBP is trading at 0.7934 Pence, up 0.29%; today’s trading range was 0.7893 Pence at the low end and 0.7941 Pence at the high end.
PMI Reports Also Straining Pound Sterling
The latest economic data is also weighing against Sterling, with the latest Markit PMI data, this time in the construction sector, showing a fall in the reading to 52.0 in April, from 54.2 in March and against expectations of a decline to 54.0. Yesterday, the U.K.’s Manufacturing PMI fell to 49.2, considered a contractionary reading, from 51.0 in March. Markit Services will be issuing the Services Sector PMI report tomorrow, and expectations are for a slight decline in the reading to 53.5 (from 53.7); any disappointment could provide even more momentum for the Pound’s slide.