The pound is weak against the euro and stronger against the dollar this morning, benefitting from greenback’s weakness and suffering due to the euro’s strength against the dollar. Boris Johnson has said again that the UK will leave the EU with or without a deal in October, which didn’t do the GBP/EUR any favours.
UK retail sales declined by the most on record in May, falling by 2.7%. This is thought to be the biggest drop since at least 1995, and is due to both political and economic uncertainty. Pressure from online retailers such as Amazon is also affecting the high street.
UK Manufacturing PMI data for May was released yesterday, and was down to 49.4 from the previous figure of 53.1. The figure is now in contraction territory for the first time since 2016, and came well below the predicted 52.0.
This drop in manufacturing is thought to be due to ongoing Brexit uncertainty affecting the ability to secure new contracts. Demand has also been limited due to the trade war tensions between the US and China, as well as companies trying to shift the stockpiles built up before the original Brexit date in March.
