- UK Manufacturing PMI decreases to 48.0 in March, which is unfavourably unexpected.
- A significant miss, the UK services PMI for March came in at 52.8.
- GBP/USD is still down near 1.2250 due to weak UK PMIs.
The seasonally adjusted S&P Global/CIPS UK Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) declined more in March, falling to 48.0 from the anticipated 49.8 and the final reading of 49.3 for February.
Preliminary UK Services Business Activity Index for March fell to 52.8 from February’s final reading of 53.5 and the forecasted reading of 53.0.
“With the flash PMI surveys signalling a second month of rising output in March, the UK economy looks to have returned to growth in the first quarter,” said Chris Williamson, Chief Business Economist at S&P Global, in response to the survey.
“The polls are largely consistent with GDP rising at only a small 0.2% quarterly rate, but this represents a welcome expansion compared to the lack of growth witnessed in the second half of last year,” the report states.
Forex implications
The gloomy UK Manufacturing and Services PMI did not affect the GBP/USD pair in any significant way. As of this writing, the spot is trading at 1.2243, down 0.34% on the day.
