A better than expected figure for Britain: the construction PMI rose to 55.9 points in May. It was expected to tick up from 54.2 to 55 points. The housing sub-component stands at 59.4 points.
GBP/USD is rising from the lows and has reached 1.5220. Update: the pair is moving higher to 1.5230.
More data: net lending to individuals also came out better than expected at 2.9 billion instead of 2.3 predicted. Mortgage approvals moved up to 58K, higher than 64K that was on the cards. M4 Money Supply met expectations with a rise of 0.4%.
All in all, this was a positive data batch. Recent figures from the UK were quite mixed and the general notion is that the economy is growing nicely, but not as rapidly as beforehand.
Yesterday, things looked less positive with manufacturing PMI hitting 52 points, lower than 52.7 expected. Tomorrow we get the PMI for the most important sector: services. The Bank of England’s rate decisions have become non-events.
More: Sell EUR/GBP targeting 0.6770 – Barclays trade of the week
In our latest podcast, we discuss commodity currencies, oil hedging and preview next week’s events.
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