020 7898 0500It seems a long time ago now, but last Thursday we learned that the British economy grew by 1.4% in the fourth quarter of 2017. This was in line with expectations and the market’s response was rather muted. The ONS revised its 2017 annual growth estimate back up to 1.8% and we saw that the pound has fared better than we might have expected at one point. However, whether this trend will continue appears to be at the mercy of further progress in the Brexit negotiations.
The Nationwide housing prices were also released and showed that they fell to 2.1% in March from 2.2% the month before. The markets had expected an increase to 2.6% and this annual growth rate is the weakest since June 2013. The only other release of note was the Gfk consumer confidence report for March which increased by three points to -7. It had been expected to hold steady at -10 and is the highest reading since May 2017.
Today’s main release for the UK is the manufacturing PMI. It will be interesting to see whether the sector is still showing strong growth.
