The Pound Sterling continued to climb during London trading on Tuesday after the release of the latest manufacturing data from the UK. According to Markit Surveys, the PMI manufacturing survey for March came in at 55.1, well above the 54.7 that had been predicted by analysts; the February reading, however, was revised downward to 55.0 from 55.2. Any figure above the 50.0 threshold is indicative of an expansion in the sector. One currency strategist had said that the predictions for the manufacturing sector survey was especially difficult given the poor weather conditions in the area during that survey’s timeframe. The news that the reading was better than expected helped push the Pound higher.
As reported at 11:08 am (BST) in London, the GBP/USD was trading at $1.4073, up 0.17%; the pair earlier hit a peak of $1.4089 while the session low is at $1.4046. The EUR/GBP is trading at 0.87526 Pence, down 0.13517%; the pair has ranged from a session low of 0.87400 Pence to a peak of 0.87632 Pence.
UK Construction and Services Surveys Eyed
Tomorrow, Markit will be releasing the PMI construction sector survey with a forecasted reading of 50.8 while on Thursday the PMI services sector reading is due out with a predicted reading of 54.0. The PMI surveys give market players a better opportunity to assess the probability of a rate increase from the Bank of England.