Risk sentiment was ON like Donkey Kong last Friday after the big NFP report from the U.S. printed much better than markets had expected. As a result, pound bulls shrugged off a disappointing report from the U.K and hustled GBP/USD 71 pips higher at 1.6115. Meanwhile, GBP/JPY also rose by a whopping 208 pips to 135.54. Talk about a fun, fun, fun Friday!
The pound nearly had a bad day last Friday when the U.K. manufacturing PMI report disappointed expectations. The data clocked in a reading of 57.1 in March, which signals that manufacturing managers expect a slower industry expansion than markets estimated (a 60.7 figure)
Let’s see if the pound bulls wake up on the right side of the bed for another day after the U.K.’s construction PMI is released at 8:30 am GMT. Recall that a reading higher than 50.0 means that construction managers expect expansion.
On Tuesday we’ll also get hold of the Halifax house price index, followed by the services PMI at 8:30 am GMT and the BRC shop price index at 11:01 am GMT. Around the same time on Wednesday we’ll also see the manufacturing production report for February.
And let’s not forget the big MPC interest rate decision on Thursday at 11:00 am GMT! While market geeks aren’t expecting an interest rate hike despite its uber high inflation rate, it would be interesting to see how many blokes joined the MPC’s hawk camp.
Good luck in your trades this week!