Pound Sentiment Mixed as Construction PMI Beats Expectations

Published: 3 May at 4 PM Tags: Euro, Dollar, Pound Sterling, America, UK, Eurozone, Australian Dollar, New Zealand Dollar, Canadian Dollar, Australia, New Zealand, USA, Canada,

Sterling
The Pound (GBP) rallied against the majority of its peers on Wednesday morning as the UK released a better than expected Construction PMI, with activity rising from 52.2 to 53.1 in April.
However Sterling began to recede against many of its peers by the afternoon as the UK government clashed with the EU over a report that the UK’s ‘divorce bill’ could rise to around £85bn, with Prime Minister Theresa May accusing European politicians of attempting to influence the outcome of the general election in June.
The Pound may advance again on Thursday however with the release of the UK’s Services PMI, with the impressive performance of the Manufacturing and Construction sector over the last month suggesting that Britain’s private sector grew in April.

Euro
The Pound Euro (GBP EUR) exchange rate jumped nearly half a cent from its worst levels this morning following the UK’s construction data.
However a robust Eurozone GDP reading prevented the pairing from strengthening further and contributed to Sterling’s downturn in the late afternoon.
The Eurozone will release its own Services PMI on Thursday, with the single currency likely to strengthen if it rises from 56 to 56.2 as expected.

US Dollar
Sterling’s attempts to recover against the US Dollar (USD) today proved to be short lived as the pairing began to slump again by the afternoon.
The ‘Greenback’ rallied on Wednesday afternoon following a better than expected Services PMI which showed that activity leapt from 55.2 to 57.5, easily outpacing forecasts of a rise to 5.8.
The US Dollar is also likely to be strengthened following this evening Federal Reserve meeting and whilst the central bank is expected to hold interest rates at 1% in May, analysts predict that the Fed will hint towards tightening monetary policy next month.

Canadian Dollar
After holding remarkably stable for much of Wednesday the Pound Canadian Dollar (GBP CAD) exchange rate began to slip this afternoon as growing Brexit fears overrode concerns over the fall of oil prices that had weighed on the ‘Loonie’.

Australian Dollar
Plummeting share prices in Australia’s four major banks weighed heavily on the Australian Dollar (AUD), allowing Sterling to advance over a cent today despite an uptick in Australia’s Service sector last month.

New Zealand Dollar
The Pound also put in a strong performance against the New Zealand Dollar (NZD) on Wednesday rising around a cent as investors flocked away from the ‘Kiwi’ in anticipation that the Fed will look to raise US interest rates next month.

As of Wednesday, 3rd May 2017, the Pound Sterling currency rates mentioned within this news item were as follows:

GBP EUR exchange rate was 1.1819, GBP USD exchange rate was 1.287, GBP AUD exchange rate was 1.7327, GBP NZD exchange rate was 1.8675, and GBP CAD exchange rate was 1.7672.

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