Flash PMI indices for April from the United Kingdom were released today at 9:30 am BST. Report was expected to show an uptick in manufacturing gauge as well as downtick in services index.

Actual data turned out to be a mixed bag, just as was the case with French and German releases earlier today. Manufacturing index unexpectedly dropped and moved below 50 pts expansion-contraction threshold. Meanwhile, services gauge surprised to the upside. Markets seem to look past manufacturing index dropping into contraction territory as GBP gained following the release.

UK, flash PMIs for April

  • Manufacturing: 48.7 vs 50.4 expected (50.3 previously)
  • Services: 54.9 vs 53.0 expected (53.1 previously)

GBPUSD gained following release of mixed flash PMIs from UK. The pair jumped and reached a fresh daily high near 1.2375. Source: xStation5