Ahead of tomorrow's return of lawmakers to the UK Parliament, FX traders are awaiting the sparks that are expected to fly between them and the Prime Minister. Boris Johnson. With the summer recess drawing to a close, Parliamentarians from the Conservative party, who are at odds with Boris Johnson's position that the Brexit will occur on October 31st with or without an agreement, are facing the risk of being expunged from their party. As a result of the uncertainty, the Pound has continued to slide against both the Euro and the US Dollar.
As reported at 11:26 am (GMT) in London, the EUR/GBP was trading at 0.9078 Pence, a gain of 0.4015%; the pair has traded in a range of 0.90266 Pence to 0.90850 Pence in today's session. The GBP/USD was trading at $1.2080, down 0.6154% and moving off the session trough of $1.2075; the pair's high on the day is set at $1.2175.
August PMI Mixed Bag
The latest PMI on the Manufacturing sector for the UK did little to improve sentiment. The Markit PMI for August failed to meet analysts' predictions with a reading of 47.4 against an expected 48.4, falling from July's 48.0 reading. The threshold of 50.0 separates a contracting sector from an expanding one. The manufacturing sector PMI reports across the Eurozone were mixed, with Germany also coming up with a disappointment and a reading of 43.5, sliding from 43.6. France, Italy and Spain all had better than expected outcomes, with France beating expectations with a reading of 51.1. The EUR/USD was trading at $1.0960, down 0.2084%.