Sterling's positive momentum continues to gain speed with the currency touching a 2½-month peak against the euro. The British pound has also marked its third consecutive daily rise against the greenback, with market players anxious to see if the trend will continue. Last week, the dollar lost ground after the US central bank suggested a tighter monetary policy with higher interest rates over the next two years. In the short term, however, Forex markets had been waiting for the preliminary PMI data for June to gauge the pound's direction. The released data was mixed, with the manufacturing sector showing an unexpected rise in the reading to 64.2 against a forecast of 64, while the services sector reading came in 61.7, lower than the 62.8 that analysts had predicted.
In London trading as of 11:13 am, the GBP/USD was trading higher at $1.3963, up 0.1398%; the pair has ranged from a session trough of $1.39232 to a peak of $1.39885. The EUR/GBP was lower at 0.8547 pence, down 0.118%, moving off the session high of 0.85697 pence while the low was recorded at 0.85298 pence.
EU PMI's Support Euro
Also released earlier today were the PMI reports from much of the Eurozone. The EU's largest economy showed upbeat results with both of the Markit PMI reports and the composite. The Manufacturing PMI came in at 64.9 versus an expected 63, while the services sector came in at 58.1 against a forecast of 55.5. The composite was 60.4 versus a consensus call for 57.5. There was less joy in the readings from the second largest economy, France, which was lower in both instances and in the composite. The manufacturing, services and composite readings for June were recorded at 58.6, 57.4 and 57.1 against a forecast of 59, 59.4 and 59, respectively. The EUR/USD was trading at $1.1944, a gain of 0.0402%; the pair has ranged in the session from $1.19112 to $1.19460.