British Pound eases as UK sales drop, US services beat
The Pound Sterling loses some ground against the US Dollar, though it remains poised to end the week with gains of over 0.60%, even as UK Retail Sales disappointed investors and US business activity improved in August. The GBP/USD trades at 1.3626, down some 0.02%.
Data in the US was mixed, with S&P Global revealing Flash PMIs. On the positive side, the Services PMI in August rose from 54.6 to 56.8, crushing estimates of 54, while the Manufacturing PMI was 53.2, below estimates and July’s print of 53.9. Read more…
British Pound: Mixed data but Sterling supported – BBH
Brown Brothers Harriman’s (BBH) Elias Haddad says GBP/USD is firmer on broad US Dollar (USD) weakness despite mixed United Kingdom (UK) data. Haddad notes July retail sales fell, partly reversing prior strong gains, while the August PMI surprised to the upside with a four-month high composite reading. Haddad judges market pricing of 50 bps Bank of England (BoE) hikes over twelve months as too aggressive, though the UK’s growth-inflation mix still supports the Pound.
“GBP/USD is firmer on broad USD weakness. Today’s UK set of economic data was mixed. Retail sales declined in July, partly reversing the previous two months’ strong gains.” Read more…
1.3670: British Pound hits six-month highs as UK PMI beats expectations
The British Pound (GBP) rallied to fresh six-month highs against the US Dollar (USD) on Friday, boosted by stronger-than-expected UK business activity data, while the US Dollar remains depressed following the US Treasury’s plan to boost bond buybacks. The GBP/USD pair has breached the 1.3660 level for the first time since February and is trading just above 1.3670 at the time of writing.
Preliminary data released by S&P Global revealed that July’s UK Services Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) improved to 52.8 from June’s 52.1 reading, against expectations of a slight decline to 51.8. Manufacturing Activity slowed down to 51.5, from 51.9 in the previous month, in line with market expectations, and the Composite PMI ticked up to 52.5 from 52.2 in June, also beating forecasts of a decline to 51.6. Read more…
