The British Pound strengthened against the Greenback, following the UK Construction PMI data release on Wednesday. The GBP/USD currency pair lost 13 pips, or 0.09%, to continue fluctuating in the 1.3687 area.
The Markit released Construction Purchasing Managers' Index that came out better-than-expected of 52.5, compared to the 47.0 in the previous period, at the same time reversing the industry's contraction to expansion.
"A rebound in construction activity was pretty well inevitable after snowfall resulted in severe disruptions on site during March" said Senior Economist at IHS Markit Tim Moore.
Historical Data Table: UK Construction PMI | Economic Calendar for 03.05.2018 | ||||||||
Date | 03.01.2018 | 02.02.2018 | 02.03.2018 | 04.04.2018 | 02.05.2018 | 1:30 AM | AUD Trade Balance | ||
Actual | 52.2 | 50.2 | 51.4 | 47 | 52.5 | 8:30 AM | UK Services PMI | ||
Forecast | 51.1 | 52 | 50.5 | 50.9 | 50.5 | 10:30 PM | CAD Trade Balance | ||
Initial Reaction on Main Pairs | SWFX Sentiment Indexes | ||||||||
Open Price | Close Price | % Change | Longs | Shorts | |||||
GBP/USD | 1.36304 | 1.3643 | 0.09% | GBP/USD | 57.00% | 43.00% | |||
EUR/GBP | 0.88059 | 0.88007 | -0.06% | EUR/GBP | 42.31% | 57.69% | |||
GBP/CAD | 1.74724 | 1.74871 | 0.08% | GBP/CAD | 45.36% | 54.64% | |||
GBP/JPY | 149.748 | 149.86 | 0.07% | GBP/JPY | 45.91% | 54.09% |