Investing.com - The pound rose to the day’s highs on Monday after data showing that U.K. manufacturing activity expanded at the fastest rate in 16 months in October, bolstering the outlook for fourth quarter growth.
GBP/USD hit highs of 1.5498 up from around 1.5451 ahead of the data.
Markit said that its U.K. manufacturing purchasing managers’ index jumped to 55.5 last month from 51.8 in September. Economists had expected the index to tick down to 51.3.
The report indicated that the U.K. economy could grow twice as fast in the last three months of the year as it did in the third quarter, survey compilers Markit said.
"The survey is consistent with a quarterly rate of growth of around 1%, a vast improvement on what we have seen in recent months," Rob Dobson, senior economist at Markit, said.
"The revival of overseas sales is a particularly encouraging aspect of the latest survey, helping to dispel fears that global demand is slumping and boding well for the outlook."
Sterling was also higher against the euro, with EUR/GBP down 0.25% to 0.7117 from 0.7135 earlier.
In the euro zone, data on Monday showed that growth in the region’s manufacturing sector ticked higher in October. The final reading of the euro zone manufacturing PMI rose to 52.3 from 52.0 in September.
The French factory sector posted modest growth with the manufacturing PMI coming in at 50.6 but growth in Germany’s factory sector slid to a three month low, with the factory PMI dipping to 52.1 from 52.3 in September.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, edged down 0.09% to 96.91.
Investors were turning their attention to Friday U.S. nonfarm payrolls report for indications on the likelihood of a December rate hike.
The Federal Reserve left rates on hold last week but indicated that it could still raise interest rates for the first time since 2006 at its December meeting.
Meanwhile, the Institute of Supply Management was to release data on U.S. manufacturing activity later in the day.