- David Kern, BCC Chief Economist
The Pound has received a strong bullish bias on Tuesday, after manufacturing output came extremely positive. The Sterling climbed to the strongest level in a month against the single currency, while the cable penetrated the upper boundary of the channel down pattern on a 4H chart. During the last 12 months, the Pound outperformed all of its major peers as improving economic conditions added to speculations Mark Carney will start raising interest rates as soon as next year.
Last week's report showed that manufacturing output came weaker-than-expected in March. Nonetheless, this week's figures indicated that industry performed significantly above forecasts both on a monthly and annual basis in February, as mining and quarrying along with manufacturing sector were on the mend. The output in the industry jumped 0.9%, surpassing expectations of a 0.3% increase and improving following January's downwardly revised 0.0%. The main contribution came from the manufacturing sector, which accounts for around 80% of the total industrial production. The output soared 1% on a monthly and 3.8% on a yearly basis.
Meanwhile, economists from the ONS said that the size of the Britain's economy can be revised upward to 5% to the GDP as officials change the way they calculate the output to meet EU standards.
© Dukascopy Bank SA