Sterling strong after further manufacturing growth

Thursday’s trading saw the pound push on again against the Euro to see a 2 month high and a new year high against the US Dollar. The pounds support came in early trading after the release of the UK’s latest manufacturing PMI figures. Last month these figures showed a growth of 55.8 and analysts were expecting a slight dip to 55.4. Actual results exceeded expectations with growth now at 57.3 which is the highest growth figure for five months and is particularly encouraging for UK exports in particular. UK house prices were also announced to be up by 10.9% since the same time last year as an increase in mortgage approvals and net lending continues to drive the property market forward.

During the afternoon trading it was the US turn for manufacturing PMI which also exceeded expectations at 54.9, up from 53.7 last month. These figures failed to support the dollar however which continues to struggle against both sterling and the Euro.

As we head into the long weekend there is a raft of important data out for all 3 major currencies today. The Euro-zone kick things off at 9:00am with their Manufacturing PMI figures before focus moves onto the UK again at 9:30am with our latest Construction PMI data. Again a slight drop from last month is expected. We round off the week in style with the big release of the month for the US at 1:30pm, Non Farm payrolls and unemployment rate. Analysts are expecting positive figures for the US that could lend some much needed strength to the greenback.

As ever keep in close contact with your account manager to take advantage of any favourable movements that could reduce the cost of you sending money overseas.