Survey: Smaller UK factories' sales expectations hit near three-year high - RTRS

Dhwani Mehta FXStreet

According to the quarterly National Manufacturing Barometer, conducted by business consultancies SWMAS and Economic Growth Solutions and cited by Reuters, a majority of the manufacturers expect sales to increase over the next six months, up from over 50% three months ago.

Key Findings:

“Sales expectations among small and medium-sized British factories hit an almost three-year high last month

Manufacturing was the fastest growing sector of Britain’s economy in the final three months of last year, helping to offset slow spending from consumers who have been squeezed by high inflation since the 2016 Brexit vote.

Tuesday’s survey also showed 56 percent of manufacturers plan to invest in plant and machinery over the next six months, up from 43 percent three months ago.”

Author

Dhwani Mehta

FXStreet

Residing in Mumbai (India), Dhwani is a Senior Analyst and Manager of the Asian session at FXStreet. She has over 10 years of experience in analyzing and covering the global financial markets, with specialization in Forex and commodities markets.

EUR/USD climbs to daily highs near 1.1820

EUR/USD now picks up pace and advances to the area of daily peaks north of the 1.1800 barrier at the end of the week. The pair’s decent move higher comes against the backdrop of a generalised lack of direction in the FX galaxy and the mild offered stance in the US Dollar.

GBP/USD trims losses, retests 1.3460

After briefly challenging its key 200-day SMA near 1.3440, GBP/USD now manages to regain some balance and revisit the 1.3460 zone on Friday. Cable’s pullback comes as the selling pressure on the Greenback gathers traction, reigniting some recovery in the risk-linked space.

Gold flirts with four-week highs past $5,200

Gold extends its rebound, climbing for a third consecutive session and pushing back above the $5,200 mark per troy ounce on Friday. The move higher continues to draw support from lingering geopolitical tensions and the ongoing uncertainty surrounding US trade policy, both of which are keeping safe-haven demand firmly in play.

Bitcoin, Ethereum and Ripple consolidate with short-term cautious bullish bias

Bitcoin, Ethereum and Ripple are consolidating near key technical areas on Friday, showing mild signs of stabilization after recent volatility. BTC holds above $67,000 despite mild losses so far this week, while ETH hovers around $2,000 after a rejection near its upper consolidation boundary.

US and Israel attack Iran, risk aversion to sweep global markets

Early Saturday, United States President Donald Trump announced that the US had begun “major combat operations” in Iran, following Israel’s pre-emptive missile attacks against Tehran. The US bombed multiple locations in Tehran, Iran’s Tasnim news agency reported. Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the attacks on Iran were aimed to remove an “existential threat”.

Starknet unveils strkBTC, shielded Bitcoin transactions on Ethereum Layer 2

Starknet, the Ethereum Layer 2 network developed by StarkWare, today announced strkBTC, a wrapped Bitcoin asset that introduces optional shielding while preserving full DeFi composability.