UK Preliminary Services PMI jumps to 53.2 in March vs. 51.2 expected
- UK Services PMI rose to 53.2 in March, beating estimates.
- Manufacturing PMI in the UK unexpectedly declined to 44.6 in March.
- GBP/USD clings to gains near 1.2650 after UK business PMIs.
The seasonally adjusted S&P Global/CIPS UK Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) unexpectedly dropped to 44.6 in March from 46.9 in February. The data missed the consensus forecast of 47.3 in the reported period.
Meanwhile, the Preliminary UK Services Business Activity Index jumped to 53.2 in March versus February’s 51 while coming in above the market expectations of 51.2.
FX implications
GBP/USD holds higher ground near 1.2950 after the mixed UK PMI data. The pair is up 0.25% on the day, as of writing.
British Pound PRICE Today
The table below shows the percentage change of British Pound (GBP) against listed major currencies today. British Pound was the strongest against the Japanese Yen.
| USD | EUR | GBP | JPY | CAD | AUD | NZD | CHF | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| USD | -0.11% | -0.24% | 0.19% | -0.16% | -0.33% | -0.07% | -0.13% | |
| EUR | 0.11% | -0.23% | -0.19% | -0.00% | -0.23% | 0.09% | 0.03% | |
| GBP | 0.24% | 0.23% | 0.43% | -0.41% | -0.03% | 0.32% | 0.15% | |
| JPY | -0.19% | 0.19% | -0.43% | -0.35% | -0.55% | -0.25% | -0.34% | |
| CAD | 0.16% | 0.00% | 0.41% | 0.35% | -0.12% | 0.09% | 0.03% | |
| AUD | 0.33% | 0.23% | 0.03% | 0.55% | 0.12% | 0.33% | 0.28% | |
| NZD | 0.07% | -0.09% | -0.32% | 0.25% | -0.09% | -0.33% | 0.01% | |
| CHF | 0.13% | -0.03% | -0.15% | 0.34% | -0.03% | -0.28% | -0.01% |
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 British Pound from the left column and move along the horizontal line to the US Dollar, the percentage change displayed in the box will represent GBP (base)/USD (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.
