UK Preliminary Services PMI jumps to 52.7 in December vs. 51.0 expected
- UK Manufacturing PMI fell to 46.4 in December, missing estimates of 47.5.
- Services PMI in the UK jumped to 52.7 in December, a big beat.
- GBP/USD regains upside traction despite mixed UK business PMIs.
The seasonally adjusted S&P Global/CIPS UK Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) dropped to 46.4 in December versus the 47.5 expected and, 47.2 - November’s final print.
Meanwhile, the Preliminary UK Services Business Activity Index jumped to a six-month high of 52.7 in December, compared with the 50.9 final print for November and the 51.0 market forecast.
Commenting on the flash PMI data, Chris Williamson, Chief Business Economist at S&P Global Market Intelligence said: “The UK economy continues to dodge recession, with growth picking up some momentum at the end of the year to suggest that GDP stagnated over the fourth quarter as a whole.”
“While employment meanwhile fell for a fourth month, the decline was only marginal and not indicative of any material rise in unemployment,” Chris added.
FX implications
At the press time, GBP/USD is paring back gains to trade near 1.2755, having spiked to 1.2775 in a knee-jerk reaction to the upbeat UK data. The pair is trading modestly flat on the day.
Pound Sterling price this week
The table below shows the percentage change of Pound Sterling (GBP) against listed major currencies this week. Pound Sterling was the strongest against the US Dollar.
| USD | EUR | GBP | CAD | AUD | JPY | NZD | CHF | |
| USD | -1.81% | -1.65% | -1.56% | -2.10% | -2.26% | -1.55% | -1.46% | |
| EUR | 1.77% | 0.15% | 0.24% | -0.29% | -0.45% | 0.25% | 0.34% | |
| GBP | 1.64% | -0.15% | 0.09% | -0.44% | -0.60% | 0.10% | 0.19% | |
| CAD | 1.54% | -0.24% | -0.10% | -0.53% | -0.69% | 0.01% | 0.10% | |
| AUD | 2.06% | 0.29% | 0.43% | 0.53% | -0.15% | 0.54% | 0.63% | |
| JPY | 2.21% | 0.42% | 0.49% | 0.69% | 0.17% | 0.68% | 0.78% | |
| NZD | 1.53% | -0.22% | -0.08% | 0.00% | -0.54% | -0.67% | 0.11% | |
| CHF | 1.43% | -0.34% | -0.20% | -0.11% | -0.64% | -0.79% | -0.10% |
The heat map shows percentage changes of major currencies against each other. The base currency is picked from the left column, while the quote currency is picked from the top row. For example, if you pick the Euro from the left column and move along the horizontal line to the Japanese Yen, the percentage change displayed in the box will represent EUR (base)/JPY (quote).
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.
