Sterling enjoys a positive start to the week

Despite the UK manufacturing industry recording its slowest growth since June last year, there was a positive start to the day which saw sterling gain ground against both the US dollar and the euro. Following a recent poor run, sterling has steadied the ship over the past two weeks, and is now showing signs of continuing its strong form from earlier in the year especially against the euro. Sterling’s recovery against the euro has been driven by the contrasting economic outlook between the UK and the Eurozone. Whilst the Bank of England has been debating whether to raise interest rates, the European Central Bank must consider ever larger stimulus packages to reverse the threat of deflation.

Today sees the release of the second set of Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) data from the UK, this time for the construction industry. While not as influential as data from the services industry, this is expected to once more show growth within construction albeit not to the same extent as the previous month.