The pound weakened against the euro and dollar on Friday as the latest manufacturing PMI reading fell to a three-month low of 52.8 in January 2019. It was below the 53.5 the markets had been expecting and is the second-weakest reading since July 2016. Interestingly, Brexit preparations have led to the fastest increase in inventory holdings in the 27-year survey history.
The only economic data release of note from the UK today is construction PMI for January. It is expected to drop to 52.4 from 52.8 the previous month. Tomorrow we will have new car sales for January and services PMI for the same month.
On Thursday, the Bank of England will announce its interest rate decision. While rates are expected to be held at 0.75% this time around, it will be interesting to see what policymakers say in the press conference.
