020 7898 0500The first week of any month is usually a busy one for data and this week, being the first week of April, is no different. It usually brings with it increased currency movements as we see how different economies are performing and with a number of key data releases this week we could well see some significant currency movements. Even though last week ended with a surprise increase in the UK current account deficit to £22.4 billion, sterling managed to finish the week relatively strongly. This week the key UK data are the March purchasing managers’ indices (PMI) for manufacturing, construction and the service industries which are released throughout the week, providing indications of UK output and, by association, of economic growth. Of these, the services PMI is likely to be the most influential as it makes up a large portion of the UK economy. Construction and Services are expected to show increasing expansion whereas manufacturing is expected to show a pull back from last month’s better than expected figures. Elsewhere, labour data out of the US towards the end of the week could have an influential effect on price of the US dollar against sterling.
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