Good news from the biggest sector in the UK: growth is stronger than expected with 59.1 points. UK services PMI was expected to rise to 58.1 points from 57.7 last month. Any figure above 50 represents growth. Numbers around 60 already represent strong growth.
GBP/USD was sliding from the highs towards the release, trading at 1.6850.  The pair is already 30 pips higher– more coming —
The high so far is 1.6884. Update: it’s already 1.6888.
This rise compensates for the worries in the manufacturing sector that originated from the weak manufacturing PMI and the weak manufacturing production data.
Yesterday we had a slightly better than expected construction PMI, that helped the pound a bit. Friday’s manufacturing PMI was a big disappointment and this hurt sterling.
The composite purchasing managers’ index for July now stands at 58.8 points, better than 57.9 in June.
The Bank of England is not expected to move on the rates on Thursday.
Resistance awaits at 1.6940 and support at 1.6810. For more, see the GBPUSD forecast.
