The Pound Sterling edged higher against both the US Dollar and the Euro during London trade on Monday on increasingly positive signals from pro-Brexit Parliamentarians. That has helped to provide a boost to sentiment for Sterling, with hopes growing that the Prime Minister may finally get her Brexit deal when Parliament votes next week. Media reports also suggested that the British government may be considering dropping some unpopular demands of the EU in the deal, which also would go along way to ensuring a yes vote.
As reported at 11:28 am (GMT) in London, the GBP/USD was trading higher at $1.3206, a gain of 0.022%; the pair earlier had hit a peak of $1.3273, before edging back. The EUR/GBP was trading at 0.8588 Pence, down 0.2068%, well off the session high of 0.86080 Pence.
UK Data Sign of Worrying Trend?
Despite the Brexit hopes, softening fundamentals are likely to continue to weigh on Sterling. The latest economic news shows that the UK construction sector, as evidenced by the Markit PMI Construction survey for February, slipped to 49.5, below the 50.3 which had been predicted and the previous reading of 50.6. The contraction in the sector is the first decline in nearly 12 months.