Yesterday saw the pound drop against both the euro and USD following Octobers construction PMI posting a decline on the previous month. Initially markets had been expecting some positive data but the pound took a tumble when the post revealed the not so good data. This morning we have the October services PMI for both the euro area an UK. As the euro area data are not expected to change substantially from the ‘flash’ estimate, the UK figures will likely receive most interest.
After an unexpected surge to 60.5 in August, the headline services PMI fell back to 58.7 in September, around its average for 2014 so far, suggesting that momentum in the services sector remains strong.
In the US, growing concerns over labour market tightness were noted in the latest FOMC meeting minutes and ahead of the October US payrolls report on Friday, today’s ADP employment release will attract significant interest.
There are also several Fed speakers today. However, Minneapolis Fed President Kocherlakotas comments will be particularly interesting as he dissented in favour of continuing the asset purchase programme at the last FOMC meeting.
MORNING MARKET RATES:
GBPEUR 1.2751
GBPUSD 1.5926
EURUSD 1.2491
GBPSEK 11.804
GBPAED 5.8509
GBPAUD 1.8382
EURGBP 0.7842
GBPJPY 182.47
GBPTHB 52.279