Release Explanation: Measures the activity level of Purchase Managers, they are surveyed on production, employment, inventories, orders, delivery data. The PMI is split into reads on Manufacturing, Service, and Construction industries. A read over 50 denotes growth. As an indicator of economic performance the PMI has the ability to easily affect currency valuations as Institutions re-align existing positions, or build new, on the strength of these reports.
Trade Desk Thoughts: The U.K. Service PMI came in at 40.2, better than market expectations. The release shows the service side of the economy has contracted for more than eight months, at the fastest pace seen in the last decade. The PMI report only compounds the economic woes, as a staggering percentage of the U.K. economy is service based.
Forex Technical Reaction: The pound is trading virtually flat, even though earlier the pair fell 150 pips