Investing.com – Sterling pared gains after weak activity in the U.K. manufacturing sector that neared three-year lows, according to industry data released on Tuesday.
In a report, market research group Markit said that its U.K. manufacturing PMI fell to a seasonally adjusted 50.8 last month from a reading of 52.9 in January. Analysts had expected the index to inch down to 52.2 in February. The reading was its lowest level since April 2013.
The pound pared earlier gains after the report, but still managed to trade higher against other Forex majors. At 9:42AM GMT or 4:42AM ET, GBP/USD traded up 0.12% at 1.3932, compared to 1.3996 prior to the release, GBP/JPY gained 0.55% at 157.66, relative to 157.84 before the data and EUR/GBP lost 0.23% to trade at 0.7797, compared to 0.7794 earlier.
Meanwhile, European stock markets were broadly higher. London’s FTSE 100 ticked up 0.4%, the EURO STOXX 50 rose 0.8%, France's CAC 40 added 0.3%, while Germany's DAX rallied 1.1%
With regard to cable, investors will keep an eye U.S. manufacturing data with the Institute of Supply Management scheduled to report activity in the sector at 15:00GMT or 10:00AM ET.