020 7898 0500Following the disappointing purchasing managers’ index data sets for manufacturing and construction, all eyes were on the services PMI figures yesterday.
The service sector is the largest in the UK, accounting for roughly 70% of economic activity. The data showed that the services sector had grown faster than expected and the figure was up from the previous month.
However, it wasn’t all good news. The figures also showed that due to cost pressures, prices had risen at the fastest pace since late 2008.
As a result of the positive news though, we saw sterling rise against the dollar by 0.3% yesterday. Given the weighting of the services sector, this was a relatively modest gain, especially when we take into account the slide we saw on the back of the manufacturing and construction PMIs.
Meanwhile, the European parliament backed a motion setting out its position for the upcoming Brexit negotiations by 516 to 133.
MEPs will not be directly involved in the Brexit negotiations. They will, however, vote on the final deal. What was agreed by MEPs yesterday was the need for a phased approach, settling financial commitments before talks on future relationships can start. The UK is considered liable for financial obligations that apply after the country leaves the EU.
Today is going to be quiet on the data front. Any further Brexit updates could have an effect on the currency.
