The Sterling depreciated initially against the Greenback, fuelled by stronger-than-anticipated Britain's manufacturing data. The GBP/USD exchange rate fell 15 base points or 0.11% to be seen trading lower, though bulls attempted to put the pair back above the 1.3510 mark.
The UK factories enjoyed the strongest monthly growth since 2013, indicating that manufacturing would fuel the country's sluggish economic expansion entering next year. The Markit/CIPS survey showed that Britain's Manufacturing PMI rose to 58.2 in November, following an upwardly revised 56.6 in the prior month. A strong manufacturing sector could remain a bright spot in 2018, while overall economic slowdown is expected to deepen as Brexit approaches in March 2019.
| Historical Data Table: UK Manufacturing PMI | Economic Calendar for 04.12.2017 | ||||||||
| Date | 01.08.2017 | 01.09.2017 | 02.10.2017 | 01.11.2017 | 01.12.2017 | 9:30 AM | UK Construction PMI | ||
| Actual | 55.1 | 56.9 | 55.9 | 56.3 | 58.2 | 10:00 AM | EU Producer Price Index | ||
| Forecast | 54.4 | 55.0 | 56.3 | 55.8 | 56.6 | 3:00 PM | US Factory Orders | ||
| Initial Reaction on Main Pairs | SWFX Sentiment Indexes | ||||||||
| Open Price | Close Price | % Change | Longs | Shorts | |||||
| GBP/USD | 1.35052 | 1.34902 | -0.11% | GBP/USD | 48.58% | 51.42% | |||
| EUR/GBP | 0.88295 | 0.88301 | 0.01% | EUR/GBP | 26.95% | 73.05% | |||
| GBP/CAD | 1.73647 | 1.73617 | -0.02% | GBP/CAD | 62.16% | 37.84% | |||
| GBP/JPY | 151.72 | 151.642 | -0.05% | GBP/JPY | 45.20% | 54.80% | |||