020 7898 0500The only UK economic data release of note yesterday was the Markit manufacturing purchasing managers’ index. It had been forecast to dip from 55.0 in February to 54.7 in March, but the figure actually surpassed expectations by coming in at 55.1. This is some good news, especially considering that any figure above 50.0 shows sector growth. However, it is slightly concerning that the release confirmed that British manufacturing in the last quarter has grown at the slowest pace for a year.
Sterling traded sideways against the dollar throughout the day and its moves have been extremely slight since last week. That isn’t altogether surprising given the extended Easter weekend, so we could see some more significant market moves as the week progresses. The pound did make some gains against the euro, which might have been down to the slowing factory growth in the eurozone.
Today we have the construction PMI for March which, like manufacturing, is expected to dip to 51.2 from 51.4 the month before. It will be interesting to see if it can defy expectations and move higher from February.
